Heavenly Creatures
by Seillean
Summary: Bo Dennis was certainly the first Fae that Doctor Lauren Lewis had ever fallen in love with and she has no doubt that she will spend the rest of her days with the beautiful succubus but what if Bo was not the first non-human that Lauren had loved? Doccubus all the way with a little stirring up. Set after Season 5
1. Chapter 1

Hello all! It's been quite a while since I wrote any fanfic but I've had this story in my head for a long time and it just won't go anywhere. It's also my first time writing Lost Girl so feel free to go easy on me :-p

Oh, I am absolutely Doccubus all the way and even though I will absolutely not be ruining our girls happy ending after Season Five I may be stirring things up a little for our two best girls so please don't hate me- as someone much wiser than myself once said; 'the course of true love ne'er did run smooth' ;-)

Disclaimer; Unfortunately all Lost Girl characters belong to the wonderful people at Prodigy *sigh*. I own nothing except my own original character.

Rated M for future chapters.

Chapter One

The tension in the Dál was palpable. Several noses were stuck into hefty tomes scattered all over the bar top and various tables. It had been a week now since Dagny had first announced her presence. The handprint on the young woman's skin continued to glow and no one seemed to have the slightest clue as to what it meant or even why now after all this time. Clearly something in the underworld was brewing and it was probably something big.

Things had been relatively peaceful over the last few years all things considered. Well, peaceful in the sense that there were no great enemies to be defeated, no large-scale apocalyptic battles to face. Just the occasional skirmish with some renegade underfae. The greatest upheavals had been political. With no Ash, no Morrígan or even troublesome elders jockeying for power life had suddenly become much more egalitarian. Dyson and Bo had become almost like community leaders. Belonging to either a light or dark clan seemed less important and the few humans within the fae world had found a new kind of freedom.

Bo herself had never been more content. She looked across towards the other end of the bar, covertly watching her lover of fifteen years, a small smile playing gently about her lips. Lauren Lewis had never looked more beautiful with her eyebrows scrunched in quiet concentration. As much as she protested the fact to her partner's face even Bo had to admit that the blonde doctor had aged. Once in a while Lauren would catch herself in the mirror and silently bemoan the steadily deepening crows feet and the small line that curved away from the corner of her mouth. Thankfully there were no grey hairs marring her still lusciously long locks as yet but she was well aware that the day she discovered the first ugly strand would come.

Each time that Bo happened to catch Lauren scrutinising herself in the bathroom mirror she would immediately stop and turn to wrap her arms tightly around the other woman, meeting her eyes in their shared reflection with a twinkle in closemouthed support. Lauren was exquisite, she was kind, elegant, warm...she was everything. It wasn't that Bo didn't notice the changes the years had brought, she just simply didn't care. As far as she was concerned the tiny lines by Lauren's eyes only made them sparkle more when she laughed. They were only little things though. The doctor still looked incredible. Her figure hadn't altered an inch in all these years and her smile, God, that woman's smile... Bo supposed that for Lauren these marks on her face were signs of the inevitable time limit on their relationship but Bo was nowhere near ready to worry about that just yet. She would be with Lauren right until the very end, no matter what.

The doctor must have sensed the scrutiny being cast her way as when she looked up from her intense reading she sent Bo a playful 'shouldn't you be studying too?' frown to which Bo responded with a very different type of look that let Lauren know that she was more interested in 'extra-curricular activities' and she smirked to herself at the thought that at least some things never change!

Just as this silent exchange was taking place a loud English 'I think I've got something' emanated from the far reaches of the room. Vex and Mark had evidently opted for a cosier spot behind the darkened pool table because up until then no one had known they were even in the bar. Vex suddenly sprung from the shadows, wafting an ancient text high above his head;

"I've got it!" He cried again, pleased with himself as he laughed. Obviously they'd had it wrong all these years! Vex was quite clearly the brains of this outfit. Both Lauren and Dyson reached out, groaning for him to be careful with the centuries old book that was already crumbling at the seams. Alright, so perhaps he wasn't the cleverest but still...he had to be up there, right?

After the heavy leather-bound volume had been safely lowered to a more respectable height Bo was the first to pipe up, rubbing over tired eyes that felt like they had half a ton of grit rolling around on them;

"What have you found Vex?"

He pointed brazenly at the teenager perched on a stool next Lauren; "it seems our little girl here has the mark of the devil" he announced a touch too cockily. Bo, Dyson and Lauren could only glare as Dagny tried to sink lower onto her seat.

"Vex, what do you mean?" Dyson growled out. It was still unclear exactly what the shifter thought of his son's love interest. Dyson had never really spoken up about the match but had instead kept his own council. Bo, herself could never quite believe that the wolf would ever be happy about Mark choosing the tricky mesmer for his mate but it was clear he was at least willing to let things play out. For now. She had often wondered if Dyson had ever had a word in Vex's ear in the early days but you never could tell with him, always keeping things so close to his chest.

Vex sighed impatiently as if he were addressing a group of particularly dim school children.

"What I mean is that baby Valkyrie over there has been cursed! Okay, so there's no real Devil but it's as good as. Your daddy dearest love," he continued, turning to Bo, "seems to have put a little whoopsy on our girl."

"We know that Vex, " Bo cut in, frustration edging her voice, "if you have point here then by all means get to it."

"Tut, tut, tut, still a bit touchy are we?" Asked Vex in a sing-song, "well if you'd let me finish?" He tapped a black-painted nail against an illuminated passage. The succubus couldn't quite make out the script, it was faded and her language skills never had been that brilliant to start with but she could just about make out the odd word here and there. She rolled her eyes at herself. It was times like this that she really did miss her Grandfather. Trick was always there with the answers or at the very least would know where to start looking for them. Instead she stared blankly at the mesmer's pointy fingernail. Lining the edge of the crumpled page was an illustration. If she'd been slightly less tired she would have noticed that the artistry was really quite stunning in its intricacy. As it was, this only made it harder to pick out the keys points she was sure she should be seeing. At the top was some kind of winged creature she didn't quite recognise. It looked magnificent, clad in its shining armour surmounted by clouds. It carried a great sword in one...claw? The other reached down for a young woman, beautifully drawn with sensuous curves, naked but for a light, flowing modesty cloth. Below her another terrifying creature grappled at the girl's legs. It looked like some kind of perverse tug of war and absurdly Bo began to feel sorry for the woman whose features would be forever etched in terror. She strained to see anything of significance though and it wasn't until her third pass that she finally noticed the tiny mark on the woman's abdomen. At first Bo had taken it for a stray blob of ink or a touch of foxing on the page but there...it definitely had five 'fingers' and appeared to have a luminescence all of its own. Her eyes lit as she lifted her face to meet Vex's knowing gaze. Everyone else in the room could only look on at the pair, trying to work out what was going on.

When it finally came, Bo's whisper was barely audible; "Vex, what does this all mean?"

"It means love, that our precious girl is stuck between Heaven and Hell." He turned to face Dagny who was doing her absolute best to blend in with the wall behind her. It wasn't that she minded being the centre of attention, in fact, sometimes she revelled in it just like Kenzi had shown her but this wasn't quite what she had had in mind. She could practically feel the mesmer's stare boring into her soul as he spoke his next words; "and we need to find ourselves an angel..."

Please feel free to let me know what you think and if you've made it this far thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed the first instalment and more importantly that you're intrigued enough to read the next bit!


	2. Chapter 2

Hello everyone! Well, can I just say a huge thanks for all the follows and the positive feedback?! Honestly, finding those e-mails waiting for me to let me know someone new likes the story is just like opening a brand new tin of sweeties and finding all your favourites just sitting there waiting for you :-)

I have to admit, the first chapter was just a wee tester to see if the story was worth doing and at the moment it seems like an 'oh boy yes'. So...if you're staying with me then please fasten your seat-belts for a long road and as a thank-you for all your lovely positivity you get a longer instalment this evening!

Chapter Two

"We need a _what_ now?" Bo looked from Vex to Dyson, confusion etched across her face. "Listen, I've seen Meet Joe Black, angels are meant to look like Brad Pitt, not like this...thing with _claws_ and big-ass teeth!" Vex merely rolled his eyes and grumbled;

"Must I really explain _everything_?" He retorted, looking around the room, "alright so not an angel exactly, we need a-"

"We need a Celestial" interrupted Dyson's deep voice from his place behind the bar and it served to soothe Bo's rapidly fraying nerves. Vex really did push her buttons sometimes.

"Okay, so what's a 'Celestial'?" She asked, making little 'air quotes' with her fingers. Dyson shrugged a little;

"Not much is known about them really, they exist far beyond our realms as a force for good." He lightly tapped against the winged figure on the page, "this one here is a Griffin, they work as messengers on behalf of the Gods and they're almost as ancient as the Earth itself. Fae have revered them for millennia. Occasionally they make appearances as envoys and a few of them form a sort elite class of heavenly warriors' but there's not a lot written about them. In fact, the only person who has really gotten close enough to make any kind of study of one is Lauren" shifting his gaze towards the other end of the bar.

Bo's quizzical expression immediately softened as her eyes fell upon the blonde seated on a high stool by the far wall. Lauren's eyelids were drooping heavily and in truth she hadn't really been listening in on the conversation, her ears only perking up when she'd picked up her own name being mentioned. The poor woman really was completely exhausted. Not only was she now running her own joint-fae clinic but of course she had spent longer than anyone else here trying fill in the blanks on Dagny's situation not to mention Bo knew that Lauren had also been working on some other big research project of her own. Sometimes Bo wondered just how much the doctor's overstretched system could take. Far too often she pushed herself to the limit and unfortunately then came crashing back down to Earth with an almighty thump. The conversation between Dyson and Vex had continued on throughout her mental absence but she picked up on the magic words " _I think I may have an idea_ " being uttered by the wolf-shifter. That was more than enough for her to decide that she and Lauren were calling it a night. Mentioning as much to the other two she hopped off her own stool, heading over to Lauren and gently taking her by the shoulders, saddened to see the woman she should have been taking better care of in such a sorry state. A tiny ' _Did_ _we find something?_ ' being the only indication of the poor woman's weakening awareness of her surroundings.

Bo eased her towards the door replying; "yes baby, we found something. You did so good honey but now we have to get you some rest, okay?" A barely audible ' _Mmm-k'_ was her only response as she slid the almost-snoring blonde into the passenger seat of her beat-up old Camaro, only just catching Vex's mutterings about him never getting credit for anything in this place!

Unbelievably the yellow rust-bucket was still going after all these years thanks to a brazen mixture of bribery, begging and...string! Thankfully it wasn't a long to drive to the apartment that had originally been Lauren's but was now shared by the two of them. For her stay Dagny had eventually opted to move in with Dyson and Mark in a room above the Dál rather than remaining at Bo and Lauren's place where she was too afraid to touch anything. She enjoyed listening to stories about Tamsin from her mother's old partner. Bo suspected that Lauren was secretly pleased that the prying teenager was now well away from her precious experiments. Personally Bo couldn't see what all the fuss was about a few half-dead plants but she supposed that's just what you did when you loved someone- you made room for all their eccentricities and let's face it, with Lauren there were plenty of those to go around! The apartment, though had more than enough space for the two of them. Both of them had at various times over the years had hoped that perhaps things could have been different. In fact, after finally committing themselves to each other that night on the hood of the yellow muscle car Lauren had spent a great deal of time and energy researching ways for the two of them to have children of their own. She was well aware that the succubus' greatest dream was the white picket fence, the family, 'weekends at the Cape', all of it and Lauren desperately wanted nothing more than to give it to her. She spent hours ensconced in her lab and they had certainly had a lot of fun experimenting with a variety techniques over the years but nothing worked. It would ever be Lauren's greatest sorrow that the one thing she knew Bo wanted more than anything else in the world was the one thing that she was incapable of giving her. Eventually the research just gradually petered out and there was a silent mutual agreement that neither would broach the subject. For Lauren's part, the more time went by the greater her fear grew of being stood at the school gates next to Bo, waiting to collect their child when someone would come up and mistake her for being her son or daughter's grandmother. Every time the thought crossed her mind her stomach would give a great sickening lurch. It was a bitter pill but the practical doctor within her acknowledged that perhaps it was better this way. Eventually when she was gone Bo would be able to have all those things with Dyson. A sharp pain would lance through her body thinking of the two of them happy with two or three beautiful children while she herself would eventually fade to a fond memory of the distant past. She had never dared voice these thoughts to Bo, she knew that the succubus would try to play down her fears, she knew that she should be at least glad in the knowledge that Bo would one day have all those things that she craved but it still hurt. However, since the day of their very first meeting, the one thing she had striven for was that her beloved partner would never, ever hate herself for being what she was and Lauren was damned sure that she would never give Bo cause to feel guilt over her own immortality.

Thankfully with the state of the Camaro being what it was Bo had to brake well ahead of time so the car rolled to a very gentle stop outside their building. Glancing across to find Lauren sleeping soundly next to her brought the small vulnerable little smile to her lips, the one that was reserved only for the beautiful blonde. Quickly and quietly she hopped out of the car and opened the passenger side door, reaching over to unbuckle Lauren's seatbelt. As deftly as possible within the cramped cab she slid one arm around the sleeping woman's shoulders and the other arm under Lauren's knees, carefully easing her out of the seat and up into her arms, 'Thank the Gods for fae strength' she thought to herself. Kicking the door behind her she felt the other woman's arms instinctively wrapping themselves loosely around Bo's neck, finding solace by burying her face in the warmth of her shoulders.

Bo walked them steadily over to the front door but the moment was broken when she suddenly realised that her keys were still in her back pocket and she had no more free hands! Silently cursing but also admitting that to herself that she could have planned that one better she slowly settled Lauren back down onto her feet while still keeping one arm protectively around the other woman's waist while she reached round and unlocked the door. She couldn't help the small chuckle that bubbled up from her belly as she remembered a similar situation that happened fifteen years prior.

After that night of impromptu 'I dos' on the hood of the bright yellow Camaro Bo had insisted on carrying her 'bride' over the threshold of what was now their home. It all went well, not making a single misstep through all the shared kisses and teasing touches until they came to the door and found that Lauren's house keys had somehow fallen out of her jacket pocket at some point while she had been in Bo's embrace and so instead of making mad passionate love they spent most of the evening in the pitch black desperately scrabbling around the gravel driveway in front of the building searching for a lost set of keys!

By the time Bo got the door open Lauren had started leaning heavily on her. At this point it was probably easier to carry her upright so she slipped a pair of strong hands around the blonde's thighs and hoisted her up around her own waist. Somehow Lauren's body knew enough by itself to tightly cross her ankles tightly behind her partner's back as Bo guided them both up to the cool sheets that awaited them at the top of the stairs. It didn't take long for Bo to join her beloved in peaceful oblivion, they would start afresh tomorrow.

 _Meanwhile somewhere far out of town..._

Dyson sat in quiet contemplation, staring deeply into the fire that crackled in front of him. As soon as Bo had left the Dál with Lauren the wolf had jumped on the back of his Triumph, revving the engine as high as it would go, taking him away from the city to thick a woodland. After a few long, steady breaths, he spoke with a quiet reverence into the flames;

 _I seek an audience with the Wolf Spirit._

It took a few moments but eventually he felt rather than heard the response.

 _I need to find a way to reach Valhalla...I need you to show me the way. I have to find one who has ascended..._

Well folks, thank you if you've made it this far. I hope you're still enjoying it and that you're willing to stick with me :-)

Please feel free to drop me a line too! I know most of these two chapters have been from Bo's perspective but future chapters will definitely be very Lauren-centric so I wanted to be fair and give Bo her voice too.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi again folks, if you're reading this then thanks for sticking with me. Thank you as well for the new follows/reviews, you really are helping me write this!**

 **Enjoy :-)**

 **Chapter Three**

 ** _Previously..._**

 _Dyson sat in quiet contemplation, staring deeply into the fire that crackled in front of him. As soon as Bo had left the Dál with Lauren the wolf had jumped on the back of his Triumph, revving the engine as high as it would go, taking him away from the city to thick a woodland. After a few long, steady breaths, he spoke with a quiet reverence into the flames;_

 _ **I seek an audience with the Wolf Spirit.**_

 _It took a few moments but eventually he felt rather than heard the response._

 _ **I need to find a way to reach Valhalla...I need you to show me the way. I have to find one who has ascended...**_

When Dyson opened his eyes he found himself standing in a huge cavernous space. The Wolf Spirit had warned him that he would be unable to travel too far into this realm. Valhalla was a forbidding and dangerous place where no mortal belonged. Instead, he would have to hope that the spirit he sought would hear his call and come to find him. After a moment spent finding his bearings he slowly became aware of another presence nearby. In trepidation, he raised his arms in a defensive position, ready to fend off any would-be attacker.

"I know why you're here Dyson but I can't help you. Believe me I wish I could." On hearing the familiar voice, the wolf's posture relaxed ever so slightly, not quite ready yet to believe his friend of so many years ago was really there, that she had heard his call and come to find him.

"Tamsin, it's your daughter at stake here!"

"Don't you think I _know_ that Dyson?!"

The Valkyrie finally stepped out from the shadows, her thick-soled sandals that strapped all the way up her calves crunched away at the red gravel beneath her feet. Dyson took a moment before speaking again, to really look at his friend. She wore the robes of the Maidens of Odin, a little more traditional than he remembered her but he had to admit she looked even more beautiful and dare he say it, serene? He flushed ruefully as he realised Tamsin must have been aware of his sudden scrutiny, because through the gloom he swore he could see the slight twinkle of amusement in her face. No, he wanted to savour this moment of reconnection with the woman he had not lain eyes on in years, not create an argument. Glancing up he could see no sign of a ceiling above him, it was too dark but the walls of the cave seemed to be composed of some kind of red rock. The air was hot and dusty, it was hard to breathe.

"What is this place anyway?"

"This is the far limit of our borders, you were wise not to come any further. Dyson, I know what it took for you to come here but I'm not a celestial."

"You're a Maiden of Odin, Odin is a God, I don't understand, what's the difference?"

Tamsin's voice strained with a mother's sorrow. Of course she wanted to help her own daughter but she once one entered Valhalla there was simply no going back. When a Valkyrie ascended she belonged to Odin. When Tamsin has risen she had begged not to be given to one of the 'Once Warriors', having no desire to be lover to anyone else so Odin had claimed her for his own household.

"Odin exists as ruler of his own realm, it's not the same. You need a celestial from the Gods of the Fae, not a Norse overlord. I shouldn't even be here." But come she had on hearing Dyson's plaintive call and for one reason only. When a Valkyrie rose to Valhalla she forsook all traces of her previous existence save for her wings but Tamsin had never allowed herself to let go of the daughter she had left behind. To even speak of her was a risk but she had to know; "What is she like Dyson?"

A smile broke out over wolf's features and his own voice broke a little when he spoke of the young woman who reminded him so much of his old friend; "she's just like you Tams. Blonde and beautiful," he added with a little smirk, "wise beyond her years but definitely trouble! She loves hearing about her mother..."

Embarrassed of her own emotion she hid behind the guise of coughing on the thick fiery air. "That's good, that's good to know." She paused for a moment as if contemplating her next words with great care, "I know I said I can't help, but there may be something I can do. There's someone I can contact but not everyone is going to like it."

Dyson nodded, "I can live with that if it means saving Dagny's life."

Tamsin stepped towards the wolf-shifter with outstretched hands, reaching to take his shoulders in a squeeze; "it really is good to see you D-Man. There's no guarantee that this is going to work but I'll try. Just do me a favour? Give my daughter my love? Tell her...tell her there's not a day goes by that I don't think about her."

Dyson nodded, sensing that the weight behind Tamsin's words. "I will. It's been too long Tams."

"Not long enough, you have to go back now Dyson. It's already taken a lot of energy for you to get here, you need to go home and look after my girl." She smiled, valiantly stifling the slight wobbling of her lips. She couldn't face saying any more words, allowing herself to drift back into the shadows. The words " _If I succeed, you will receive the help you need soon_ " echoing around the vast space. Dyson held her gaze until he opened his eyes again in the forest. The only evidence that time had moved on being the dying embers of the fire that had been freshly lit when he'd left.

She didn't bother to flip the light switch as she heaved herself through the door to the grungy bedsit. Tossing her gear on the unmade bed she was perfectly aware of the intruder that had made itself quite at home in the raggedy old armchair in the living area. Water for her parched throat was at the top of her priorities as she made her way to the fridge.

"Well, are you actually going to say anything or are you just going to sit there all night?" She asked acidly, loudly snapping open her water bottle.

"Now is that any way to greet an old friend?" The deep voice that emanated from the chair was deceptively mild as a hand snaked out to turn on the little table lamp beside him.

"You know what Cathal, I'm really not in the mood for this so why don't you just tell me where they're sending me next huh? What, Beirut? Colombia? Ooh, how about Afghanistan this time? Not been there in a while? What, have you lot just suddenly decided that this latest dive is too good for me now?" Her tone was mocking and the man sighed. He tried to maintain his patience, he really did but his restraint was beginning to wear very thin. With each meeting Athdara had become progressively more and more embittered. He couldn't blame her for that but dammit, none of this was his fault. The situation she was in had all been brought about by herself, surely she could see that? Or maybe that was the real problem. Athdara bad been the architect of her own fate and she had been living the consequences for far too long. In all fairness to her though, considering the succession of dumps they had unceremoniously tossed her into over the years she was still immaculate in her appearance, the dried blood from her latest scrap currently spattering her tank and jeans notwithstanding. It seemed that some vestiges of the proud creature she had once been still remained in there somewhere and the idea warmed him.

"Toronto."

That one word was enough to half the woman's movements around the kitchen having been slicing up bread for a sandwich. Not even making the effort to turn around, her answer was a quiet but very definite "No."

"Athdara..."

"I said No!" The bread knife clattered hard as it made abrupt contact with the kitchen worktop.

"Athdara, the elders are offering you a chance for you to go home! To live in peace once and for all. Aren't you tired of fighting?"

Her breathing laboured she stared down at the breadknife, struck by the curious thought that it seemed a strangely indulgent item to find in an apartment that had mould sprouting from the ceiling. She sighed with something like resignation. Was this what her life had become? Marvelling at breadknives while lugging herself endlessly from one greasy fleapit to another? Heading seemingly aimlessly from fight to fight wherever _They_ decided to send her? "You can have it all back, old friend, everything that they took from you."

"Have it all back? Have it all back he says." She spun around suddenly, turning to find a focal point for the anger that now contorted her features. "I can NEVER have it all back because they took the away the only part that gives any of this meaning!" She began, flinging her arms out wide on either side if her; "I would have given it all up willingly if only they had _asked_ but they didn't!"

Cathal strode forward into Athdara's space. This was why they usually sent him to pass on her new directives. He was the only one left with any tolerance of her outbursts. He understood the anger. He understood that this is what happens when you make someone face the evils of the world head-on, denied all company but the torture of their own mind. When he looked at Athdara now he saw an emptiness. There was no longer anything left of the great comrade-in-arms he had known over several millennia. Before him was a hollow shell that followed orders simply because there was no other choice. He had long-since dreaded the day when she would finally snap and point blank refuse, simply unable to take anymore.

"I know! I know they made a terrible example of you because to do otherwise would have set a dangerous precedent...but you can see everything you've lost returned to you. Just one more mission."Personally, he had always believed that the punishment Athdara had received had been far too severe for her supposed 'crime' but it was an opinion he would never dare speak aloud.

"I dream of nothing more than feeling the wind through my wings, of never having to fight again but I cannot do this." She took a step back, creating the distance she needed to offer her next words; "The only thing that has kept me going all this time was the bargain I struck with the elders when I was condemned. If I return now, it makes a mockery of everything I have endured. The elders may do as they must but I will not go."

Cathal could only stare. Somehow he was not surprised at the hard line Athdara had taken but he had hoped beyond all hope that reason would still somehow prevail. "I fear you may have just sealed your fate."

Her smile was somewhat bittersweet as she regarded the man that had been a brother to her; "I think I did that a long time ago."

That same evening in Toronto the happy sunshine gang were gathered for drinks in the Dàl. It was meant to be an evening of much-needed relaxation, just a chance to cut loose under the guise of a proper "welcome home" party for Dagny. Laughter was shared in equal measure and Dagny thrilled to hear stories about her mother. While Lauren was off thrashing Vex at pool despite giving her some of his best mesmer moves Bo plopped down beside the young Valkyrie, slipping an arm about the girl's shoulders.

"So, having fun kiddo?" She beamed.

Dagny smiled back, "yeah, I'm having the best time! Lauren really knows how to hustle, huh?"

Bo followed the girl's eyes to where Lauren just happened to be giving her an amazing view as she bent over the table to take her next shot, the Succubus' mind taking on a very different slant to the question but she just about managed to bury the thought under the heading of 'for much, much later.'

"Yeah, she really does," she answered perhaps a bit to breezily before turning back to face Dagny who seemed fixated on the space in front of her, "so umm, how's your Aunt Kenzi? I haven't really heard you mention her since you got here, she okay?"

"Sure, she's fine."

"Okay, it's just that I haven't really heard from her in a while and haven't been able to get her on the phone. I thought, maybe you might know what's up?"

Dagny just smiled and shrugged.

"Alright" said Bo, squeezing the teenager's shoulders and offering her a sly sip of her vodka and coke with a little conspiratorial wink. Yet before Dagny had even managed to bring the straw to her lips a loud; " _Bo, don't let the kid drink!_ " Came from the direction of the pool table without Lauren having even looked up her shot. Bo gave Dagny a light slap of commiseration to her back before sidling over the lay a hand of the very fine gluteus maximus she so adored.

"Bo, if you're trying to distract me I'd wait until after this shot if I were you..."

The succubus leaned forward to purr seductively into Lauren's ear;

"Oh? And why is that _Doctor_?"

Turning her face from slightly towards Bo's from where her chin currently rested on her cue she placed a light kiss at the corner of Bo's mouth; "hmmm, never start a sentence with 'and'" she began, not quite potting her five ball cleanly into the corner pocket, it bounced off the cushion. Lifting herself up from the table to turn into Bo's arms while Vex got down to his next shot, she made her next statement clear enough for the mesmer to hear, "and don't distract me because I promised Vex you'd sleep with him if he won this round."

In the same instant that Bo's jaw dropped Vex spliced his cue, the Eight ball careening off into to the crowd somewhere and Lauren squealed with delight.

"Well of all the dirty bloody tricks woman!"

"Oh, come on, you've been cheating all night! This, my friend, was divine justice!" She grinned, turning back to face Bo's still stunned face, "very divine indeed," she murmured for loud enough for the succubus's ears only. "Bo? Honey, I was kidding!" Lauren was actually beginning to look concerned when Bo suddenly broke out into a huge grin;

"Babe, I am so proud of you!" She laughed, lifting the blonde slightly with a giant bearhug. "See Vex," she called over Lauren's shoulder, "humans really are smarter than us!"

"Yeah and much more bloody devious," he grumbled but Bo could see the slight smirk edging his around his lip.

Bo turned her attention to doctor who still had both arms wrapped tightly around her waist. Sliding her fingers up along the collar of Lauren's favourite brown doeskin jacket she wondered if she'd ruin what was turning into a very pleasant moment by asking; "babe, do you think something's up with Dyson tonight?" She knew the answer the second Lauren developed her 'really?' expression that she had perhaps just made a slight error. In an effort to justify the change of subject she hurriedly followed with "it's just that he's been a little off, not really joining in the fun. Have you noticed anything?"

Lauren took a second to muster some patience before replying. She really had come to quite like the wolf over the years that they had all been together but very occasionally she resented that he seemed to take up a fair bit of hers and Bo's personal time too. He was a good friend but for heaven's sake, he had an eternity with this gorgeous woman and she only had a comparatively few short years. Then her rational mind would kick in again and she'd be back to being 'friendly Lauren' again.

"I guess I've noticed he's been a bit quiet, sure but you know Dyson, it could be anything. Why don't you go talk to him?"

Bo looked uncertain, as if she'd just caught the corner of a land mine with her toe.

"You sure?"

The doctor glanced over to where Mark and Vex were keeping young Dagny entertained.

"I'll be fine, go check on him. We can always continue this later" she added with a wink, letting Bo know that she wasn't really in trouble.

When she finally managed to get to Dyson through the throng of Friday night customers Bo found herself more than a tad surprised when he led her down the stone steps to Trick's old lair. Going down to this place still gave the Succubus chills. She somehow still expected her grandfather to pop out from behind one of the ancient bookcases that lined the walls. The room still smelled of the sandalwood he would crumble between his fingers and use as an aftershave. Dyson remained stubbornly with his back to her even though he could hear click of her tall boots echo softly on the cold floor. "I went out last night Bo."

"Hunting? Did you kill someone?" Bo felt a surge of panic flutter through her chest. It was rare but accidents had happened.

"I went to commune with the Wolf Spirit"

Bo felt the bile sensation in her throat begin to subside but his explanation only make her more curious as to why he was acting so weird. "Well, what did she say? Did she know something about Dagny?"

He could feel Bo's stare boring intently through his waistcoat straight into the flesh of his back. Slowly turning, he confessed;

"I asked the Wolf Spirit to help me find Valhalla"

"You what? Dyson, why the hell didn't you tell me? It could have been dangerous!" She cried, giving him a resounding smack on the arm.

The shifter could only shrug, "it was a last-minute decision. I thought maybe Tamsin could have acted as a Celestial. Turns out she can't but she may be able to arrange something, she said."

Bo's deep brown eyes took on a fresh sheen of emotion, "you saw Tamsin? How was she?"

"She was good. I should talk to Dagny though, her mother had some things for her to hear."

Bo raised her head at the sound or raucous drunken laughter coming from the bar and nodded.

"Not tonight though."

Two days later Athdara was still amazed that she hadn't been picked up yet. Surely Cathal would have relayed her steadfast refusal to the elders by now? Her eyes darted about rapidly, finding it ridiculous that she of all people should be afraid of the shadows cast by street corners and cloistered alleyways, seeing potential threats everywhere. Just as the she finished the thought, however, her gaze lit on a vaguely familiar figure in the distance and it was coming for her. This was her own fault- she had spoken to soon! As she peered through the sun's heat haze she recognised him as one of her former 'colleagues'. The urge to turn around and run was strong but she knew well there would be another just like him behind her and sure enough she felt the tight grip of fingers around her collarbone.

Mere seconds later she found herself being led through a colonnaded archway of white marble and out to the far corner of an orange grove shaded gently from the sun by a group of tall trees. She reconciled herself with the fact that regardless of what the elders had planned for her now, whatever they did to her, she had at least finally made it back home.

After sitting her down on a stone bench however, her 'guards' simply turned away and left. Athdara was puzzled to say the least; _y'know, if they were trying to intimidate me, they've kinda missed a trick or two._ She thought drily to herself.

Then from behind came a strangely familiar voice;

"Speaking of Tricks..."

Slightly longer tonight folks, hope you're enjoying it so far :-)


	4. Chapter 4

**Well, hello again all. I have to say I'm so chuffed with the continued views of this story so far and thanks especially to those who have taken the time to review and/or hit the follow/favourite buttons, it really means a great deal and this story definitely belongs to you guys now. So without further ado here's the next but...**

 **Chapter Four**

"Trick? I don't understand, what happened to you? How on Earth did you end up here?!" Came the flurry of questions as the two old friends reached to grasp the others forearm in a warm greeting. Trick merely shrugged, looking perfectly sanguine over his own fate.

"My time was up and to tell you the truth, it's been wonderful having a second chance with my daughter." The smile on the former Blood King's face was the kind that could only be seen on that of a proud father.

"Aoife? She resurfaced? After all this time...things have changed 'old man'" Athdara teased. The smile faltered for a moment, suddenly regarding his old companion with a somewhat sombre expression.

"Things have changed a great deal since we last met," he began, coming to a rest on the stone bench with a silent request for Athdara to join him, "the short version is that my daughter returned, I had the chance to know and guide my beautiful granddaughter Bo then Aoife and I were both killed by Bo's father Hades."

"God of the Underworld," Athdara nodded in understanding, "Trick, I can guess why they've brought me to you, one last chance to be 'persuaded' but I'm not going back and you know why."

Trick bit his lip, wondering how much Athdara really needed to know but then reminded himself sharply that taken on those very sorts decisions had been what had landed him where he was in the first place. The fact was that the wily little barkeep respected the woman sitting beside him far too much to lie to her. Besides, if he and his "associates" managed to pull this off, Athdara would soon be returned to her full powers and even a dead man would not find it wise to anger a griffin!

"Well the truth is...the elders don't know you're here but they would have called on you soon anyway even if we hadn't."

" _We_?" She demanded, suddenly having the sneaking sensation she was being ganged up on and feeling less than thrilled at the prospect.

"Someone I knew once, a valkyrie named Tamsin, managed to find me. She had a request and one made not lightly. Oh this is all very complicated," he grimaced, rubbing at his brow fretfully, "she had a daughter, a daughter conceived through... _ill_ _means_. Well, you know what happens to valkyries when they give birth, automatic ascension to Valhalla." As he paused for breath Athdara still impatiently wondered what any of this could possibly have to do with her, _what_ _ **was**_ _he leading up to_? She had, of course, heard of the fate that awaited any valkyrie that produced offspring and personally believed it to be more than a little barbaric but that was just the Viking way. _There again,_ she silently debated with herself, _some would argue that for an order like the griffins and their masters that supposedly existed out of pure love, what they had done to herself could definitely be construed as less than civilised too._

"Yes friend, you're right of course." Came the soft reply and Athdara mentally kicked herself for forgetting that in this world words were simply not required but remained more of a habit between two souls that had been Earthbound for so long. "Ouch, I felt that!" He grinned.

"Sorry" she mumbled and Trick felt compelled to place a comforting hand on the woman's knee in a strange sort of fatherly tenderness. Strange because Athdara was several thousand years older than he himself. He supposed it had something to do with the fact that being fae he had at least aged little by little over time to look like somebody's grandfather. Griffins, on the other hand, followed no concept of mortal time and did not age at all. In fact Athdara just barely appeared to be around the thirty mark.

Trick proceeded to explain the current predicament that the valkyrie Tamsin's daughter had found herself in and that his own tightly-knit circle of friends were desperately trying to help but to no avail. Trick spoke as though he were almost in awe of his own granddaughter and for all the former griffin knew, perhaps he was but even he recognised that this situation was well beyond Bo's purview, even as Dagny's own half-sister. It was as Trick approached the conclusion of his story, mentioning the glowing handprint across Dagny's torso that a faint light of recognition began to glimmer in Athdara's eyes and Trick nodded; "you know of the story."

Athdara's voice took on a slightly faraway tone, almost as though she'd been hypnotised, her soft gaze reaching out into the distance as she spoke; "I know the story of which you speak. A child born of the darkest night but who longs for the light of the sun. A cursed child. Each side claiming her as their own."

"Yes," he replied, lowering his voice to match that of his companion, "Hades tried it with Bo first but he didn't succeed. Turns out the phrase 'born of the darkest night' was really meant to be taken literally. The night Dagny was born was the darkest any of us had ever known. The fate world itself hung in the balance. Dagny's mother was also dark fae but the girl lives among the light and wishes to remain where she is loved. Athdara, a battle will be waged for the child's soul..."

"...and for whichever side that wins there shall be a debt to be paid. Balanced must be restored." She finished and a hush descended over the pair of them. Athdara had experienced many silences since being cast from this place oh, so long ago but this one...for the first time since that terrible day this felt peaceful. Trick had spoken to her with warmth and compassion. She knew now why his family were in need of her and her path to finally getting home had become clear. "She's with Bo isn't she? Your granddaughter."

Trick had barely heard the words that slipped painfully from his friend's lips and he tried hard to make his reply impossibly gentle;

"Yes," he began and at the old man's confirmation an old wound suddenly ripped open deep within the woman's gut even as she nodded in understanding. She knew Lauren would eventually have moved on without her, whether the brilliant doctor would have somehow worked out how to revive her comatose girlfriend Nadia or whether she had found someone completely new to love as it now seemed. But somehow with that one word all the heartache, all the constant battling and and just sheer emptiness came crashing down about her.

"I guessed as much. Even when you were talking about her I knew you were holding back about something. It's okay Trick," she sniffled as she glanced at the slightly helpless-looking man beside her, "you don't have to spare me. Believe me, there is not one hurt that I have not felt since the day of my banishment."

"Athdara, this wasn't how I wanted it. You know that. In fact I wasn't even sure what had happened to you until Cathal came to find me one day and told me. I'm not saying this to hurt you but Lauren was devastated when you just disappeared."

"I did my best by her Trick, I swear I did everything I could to protect her."

"I know and you need to tell her that." But Athdara merely shook her head;

"No. I can't do that to her. She deserves to be happy and I will not ruin that for her. Trick, everyday I have wondered if there was something, _anything_ that I could have done differently, I will _not_ put her through the same" she spat through gritted teeth. "I'd much rather she remained angry as I'm sure she has...if she thinks of me at all" she added dismally.

"She _deserves_ to hear the truth...and you deserve the chance to set the record straight. Don't you think it's the very least you've "deserve"?" He sighed, realising that perhaps he had stretched the conversation as far as he dared. After all, he still had to persuade Athdara to 'volunteer' her services to the griffin elders before they came looking for her. The way Trick had worked it out, in his own mind at least, was that if Athdara had an opportunity to show loyalty before the Gods and a willingness to go through the ordeal that awaited then she would at last be able to hang up her wings honourably and finally find the rest she had more than earned. Meanwhile the Gods would be, if not outrageously happy then adequately pleased that the strongest griffin ever to don the warrior's armour had kowtowed and returned to the fold.

Four days after Dyson's less-than-popular decision to travel to Valhalla he was beginning to lose despair of ever receiving Tamsin's solution to their current predicament, whatever that may have been. The concept of being stuck back at square one all over again was more than just disheartening. As much he was desperately trying to ignore them, his wolf senses were pessimistically insisting that the sands of time were fast running against them. Allowing his anger to take purchase he scrubbed forcefully at the rich mahogany bar top of the Dàl's main saloon. He didn't bother to look up at the entrance bell dinged, announcing the presence of some unfortunate newcomer, but instead continued to fixate on the patch of wood in front of him that was rapidly beginning to lighten at the vigorous scrubbing and grunting;

"We're closed!"

But footsteps edged deeper into the bar area, still in darkness from the previous evening serving to shroud the unwelcome stranger.

"I said we're cl'..." The words getting stuck in his throat as the figure stepped again towards the dim light emanating from the bar area.

"Now is that any way to greet an old friend?"

The wolf immediately raced around to the front of the bar, dropping to his knees;

"My lady-"

"Dyson," the woman interrupted, "don't be ridiculous! Up. Now."

Slowly the scruffy-bearded shifter rose to eye level, little patches of dust now marring the shins of his black knees. Slowly, a wide smile began to spread across his features;

"It's good to see you stranger. It's been a very long time."

She nodded her agreement, reaching forward with both arms stretched offering a tight embrace.

"I gather you're in need of my particular services Wolf!" Her eyes crinkled a little as she watched the realisation find it's way into Dyson's expression. "You always were a little slow." But before he could reply the door from Trick's lair burst open and what felt something like a whirlwind approached the pair from behind Dyson's typically-waistcoated back. Another female with long dark hair and eyes so dark they were almost black was bustling purposefully up to him, her bountiful breasts barely constrained by the leather corseted top that covered a shirt of very daring crimson. Yet more leather that looked almost painted on clad toned legs, the muscles visibly rippling just under the taut fabric. This lady looked good and she knew it but the determination in her tone as she stomped over somehow gave her an added appeal.

"Okay Dyson, it's been four days, we've tried it your way but..."

"Bo-" he tried.

"No Dyson, this is my sister and-oh..." Bo's sudden rant came to an abrupt stop as if only just noticing the presence of the stranger in front of her and her jaw dropped a little. "I didn't realise you had company."

Before her stood the most... _noble_ looking figure she had ever laid eyes on. The stranger wore armour that gleamed in the low lamplight of the Dàl that flickered over the intricate patterns etched across the metal plates. Draped elegantly over one shoulder from an ornate Celtic clasp hung a cloak of midnight blue. She was tall, perhaps even around six foot and though slim, she was strong-looking. More than that though, this was an ancient being. Bo could feel the power crackling through this... _woman's_ energy, whatever she was. It was a power that seemed to dwarf her own although she sensed a tight control there too. Her hair, though clasped away from her face, was overall dark but streaked with blonde at the front and sides and what was worse, it looked entirely natural! It was her eyes though...her eyes seemed to glow every colour but there was something else. There was a world-weariness in there too as if those same eyes that sparkled so brilliantly had also seen far too much. It was the same look Bo had seen in the veterans you saw on television. Whatever else she may prove to be, this woman was no threat. Bo thrust her hand out in front of her;

"Hi, I'm Bo. Bo Dennis."

"Bo!" Dyson growled out through gritted teeth. Bo turned to him with a look that simply said ' _what?!_ ' Turning back to the stranger before them she found those brilliant eyes twinkling in...amusement? But she found her handshake returned with a warm, strong clasp.

"I'm Athdara," she began, "Dyson and I go back a while."

Athdara's voice did have some kind of accent but it was more musical than anything else, almost hypnotising but friendly. Bo looked back at Dyson with another look, this time it was a ' _see!'_ although before she had the chance to reply the door to Trick's old lair, clicked open again behind them;

"Oh and this is my partner...Lauren."

 **Sorry guys, I actually was going to continue this chapter and make it much, much longer but the temptation to leave you with a little cliffhanger was just too great- *hangs head in shame*. I know, I'm weak! Still, hope you've enjoyed our first proper look at Athdara. The story will start to really get moving now.**

 **Night all!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Well folks, if you're just joining us I'm so glad to have you along. Really thrilled with all the new follows/reviews and so grateful. If you're keeping up with this story don't be shy ;-)**

 **Here's the rest of what I had intended on giving you in the last chapter before I decided to leave you with a wee cliffhanger. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter Five**

 _"Oh and this is my partner...Lauren."_

Lauren had been on her way up the basement steps, the latest text to have caught her interest cradled reverently in her hands but as she reached the open doorway her face immediately paled. In an instant the sharp staccato click of well-heeled boots thundered through the silent bar followed quickly by the angry smack of palm colliding with cheek before turning on the spot and striding back from whence she came.

"Lauren!" came the shocked calls from both Bo and Dyson, the pair of them too stunned and slack-jawed to move for a second before the Succubus cut a dash after her lover whilst Dyson made a move to apologise for the doctor's sudden outburst. Athdara merely held up a hand to him saying;

"It's alright Dyson...it's nothing I don't deserve" she admitted, rubbing at her slightly reddened jaw.

Meanwhile Bo had caught up to Lauren in the beer cellar where the shocked blonde had ineffectually tried to hide herself in amongst the wooden casks that lined the cold and uneven stone walls. Bo's boots felt tacky on the floor where years of yeasty spills had left a rather pungent stale smell in the air. All in all, perhaps not the ideal place for a heart to heart but as she watched the play of emotions over Lauren's features in the slivers of fading daylight that sneaked in through the street-level grated window above, the woman looked as distraught as Bo had ever seen her. In that moment Bo couldn't care less what Athdara was, she could have been Queen of all the Heavens...that _thing_ had caused this look of abject hurt on the face she loved more than any other and she felt a white hot fury bubbling up inside of her though a tiny voice in the back of her mind managed to shout loud enough to make her check her impulses. Lauren really didn't need her anger right now. Cautiously she edged nearer as though afraid that Lauren might suddenly spook and bolt for cover at any second.

"So, uh, I guess you two have met already huh?"

But Lauren continued to stare into space and Bo began to worry that maybe the woman had actually slipped into some kind of catatonic state before she eventually gave a shy nod. It was when she let out a sniffle that Bo noticed the glint of tear tracks running down her lover's cheeks.

"Yeah, I guess you could say we're 'acquainted'" she replied, accompanying the bitter words with a sardonic little smile. Bo chose to take the response as a good sign so she moved a tad closer until she was just about able to feel the warmth radiating from Lauren's body but still she made no effort to reach for her. Inside she was shaking with the abrupt realisation that another woman was able to have this kind of effect on her partner's emotions.

"So should I be worried?" She asked, adding a decidedly unconvincing half-laugh in an attempt to sound like she was only jesting. To the succubus it admittedly felt like a bit of a desperate tactic but it did get Lauren's attention as she raised her eyes from her newfound favourite spot on the floor.

"No Bo." All of a sudden it was all too much. Lauren's face crumbled and she groped wildly for Bo's arms, burying her face hard into the succubus' neck and finding solace in the seclusion provided by Bo's long dark hair. The familiar scent of her lover's shampoo was comforting even as the sobs continued to rack her body. At last with the soothing of Bo's strong, firm hands stroking circles across her back she could breathe enough to mumble the only words that made sense to her in that moment; "Bo? Take me home. Please?"

After making a quick escape through the back door, Bo put the pedal to the metal and raced them home as rapidly as the battered old Camaro would allow. She fully expected Lauren to just want to collapse straight into bed, maybe with Bo's arms wrapped protectively around her so it was with great surprise when instead, the second she had closed the front door behind her she found herself pressed up tightly against it. Lauren's kisses were a touch more forceful than usual, her caresses not so delicate which Bo didn't mind per se; it wasn't often these days that Lauren initiated rough encounters between them like she had when they had first become a couple. She would sometimes indulge Bo in her baser impulses when the somewhat possessive succubus part of her took over but she had to admit that those rare displays of dominance from the blonde gave her an illicit thrill. This was different however. There was a neediness in Lauren's grasping and Bo had the cloying sensation that this impulsive aggression had less to do with the doctor's desire for her lover and more to do with suppressing her own emotions. Then again perhaps she was just being fanciful? But as much as a large part of her wanted to give in to her own lust Bo couldn't ignore the fact that something just didn't feel right here. Long ago Bo had vowed to herself that she would never again ignore such signs of distress in her partner. Much earlier in their history she had been oblivious to (or chose to ignore) the varied signs that Lauren had become deeply unhappy within their relationship. As a girlfriend Bo had been so naïve back then and far from just magically disappearing by themselves these resentments had built and built until Lauren had felt she had no choice but to run away. Bo would never allow that to happen again.

So reluctantly she placed her hands on Lauren's chest and gently pressed until Lauren broke their kiss with a loud pop but the blonde was in no mood to wait, immediately grabbing at the back of Bo's head, tangling her fingers in the long dark locks and pulling her back to up to her own swollen lips while hastily shedding her velvety suede jacket. Nevertheless, Bo did manage to place a finger on the blonde's lower lip, staring deeply into hazel eyes, seeking out every gilded fleck and willing them both to take a breather for a second. She knew in her heart that if they carried on this way neither of them would find it very satisfying in the end. Right at this moment Lauren needed to feel cherished, reassured. She reached down, entwining their fingers and slowly raised them to her lips, kissing each knuckle, never once losing eye contact with the beautiful woman in front of her before walking them both upstairs.

The bedroom was pleasantly cool while the vibrant reds and golds of the evening sunset cast a welcome glow over the crisp white sheets. Bo always loved the way the sun would catch Lauren's hair, giving her her own fiery aura and she admired the view for just a second before moving to stand behind her, raising elegant fingers to the blonde's shoulders, tracing them down over scapula and feeling for every bump of spine through the classic ivory shirt the doctor had chosen that morning. The starch Lauren used in the laundry made the fabric crunch and crinkle strokes.

"Bo" she whispered.

"Shh," came the succubus' reply, "I've got you." She reached around and began to undo the column of smooth plastic buttons, spreading the white blouse open and letting her hands travel luxuriously over the silky warm skin she'd just exposed. Lauren gave a soft sigh of delight and leaned her head back to rest heavily on Bo's shoulder giving herself permission to relax under the tender ministrations. Bo took the opportunity to trail her lips along the blonde's throat while her hands dipped to fiddle with her belt and zip, easing the waistband of her jeans lower before moving to firmly massage hips that began to rotate upwards into the powerful caress.

Half holding her and half teasing Bo conveyed them both backwards to the bed until her calves made contact with the mattress. She sat down, bringing Lauren with her onto her lap, her side pressed deliciously against Bo's breasts while loosely winding her arms around the other woman's neck. They shared a few light kisses, hands smoothing over curves in a variety of patterns and pressures, both now content to simply enjoy the intimate embrace for as long as they could hold it. Then Bo moved her lips away, kissing up the side of Lauren's face. Lauren dipped her head under the attention, her hair falling across her other cheek to form a sort of curtain between themselves and the cruel world outside. Their touches gradually became more fevered and clothing became an inconvenience. Lauren's trembling fingers tugged clumsily at the lace of Bo's corseted top but in a move that both surprised and thrilled her Bo just ripped the offending leather off in a display of fae strength. Lauren responded by pressing her hot open mouth against Bo's, tongue demanding entrance as she shifted her knees to straddle Bo's lap. Dazedly Bo became aware that she was rapidly losing control here and so flipped them over instead. In one bold movement her body was now settled firmly between Lauren's legs. The blonde whimpered slightly and struggled to manoeuvre but Bo held her still.

"Lauren, just let me love you. Please baby?" She implored and the simple plea whispered in her ear was so heartfelt that Lauren began to tear up again. She knew that being in love wasn't supposed to hurt but every once in a while Bo would catch her off guard and Lauren would feel the sweetest pain in the vicinity of her chest. As Bo raised herself up Lauren's back arched for more contact and she found herself being eased back down to the bed; "It's okay, I'm not going anywhere honey." She proceeded to lower Lauren's jeans and underwear the rest of the way down, tossing them somewhere behind her before stopping to remove what scraps remained of her own clothing leaving herself bare to her lover's gaze. Lastly, she whipped away Lauren's bra and quickly leaned over her, both women shivering at last as Bo covered Lauren's body with her own. Slowly, she began to set a rhythm as she pushed herself further into the supple cushioning of the blonde's bountiful breasts and toned thighs, not really intent on going anywhere quite yet, simply revelling in the closeness of the moment. At some point Bo had begun to mouth a trail down Lauren's neck, gliding her body ever downwards while skilful fingers began fondling the doctor with intimate intent. She had just reached one perfectly peaked nipple when she felt Lauren's hands cupping her face, lifting her gaze.

"Bo, stay with me?"

Without another word the succubus crawled back up Lauren's body to find hungry lips waiting for her. In silent agreement they maintained a steady eye contact as they kissed while Bo's fingers continued to lovingly stroke the blonde's satiny labia. Lauren dug her fingers into Bo's back as their sweat-slick bodies slipped easily against each other. Bo found herself overwhelmed with the heady smell of patchouli and cedar wood the doctor preferred as it rose in their combined heat. In some ways, whether it was Bo's succubus nature or something else entirely Lauren never felt closer to Bo than when they made love in this way. In this instance she felt more than well loved but now the blonde doctor just needed Bo to take her, to feel that fae power surging out from her core through every muscle of her body;

"Bo, I need you inside me baby, please!"

Bo slid her free arm under Lauren's shoulders, holding the other woman fast to her own body as she slid two fingers through plump saturated folds, pushing past the slight resistance as scorching muscles pulsed around her. Lauren had evidently been thoroughly ready for her. She tightened her hold on Lauren's writhing form offering more friction, the sticky sound of their lovemaking reaching their ears as she continued to press in and out to a near frantic beat sending pulses through her hand straight to Lauren's centre. It didn't take much for Lauren to find her peak, her perfect figure taut as she rode out the continued waves of pleasure until gradually she came back down to Earth.

Bo could only look on, awestruck as always by the beauty of the woman before her. Sometimes she still couldn't believe that this brilliant, kind woman had agreed to spend her preciously short life with her. Even now she regretted that it had taken her so long to realise what a gift it was that this woman had given her. Then Lauren gave a tiny murmur, wrapping both arms around Bo's back and pulling.

"You sure baby? I don't want to hurt you." Bo asked in a hushed tone. Lauren smiled;

"You ask me that every time and you never have" she said, curling the fingers of her right hand around Bo's ear. She was right of course so Bo lowered herself down until she was lying directly on Lauren's body, allowing the doctor to bear most of her weight. _So much for human fragility_ she thought to herself. Yet in this instance she was. Lauren only ever needed this on the very rare occasion when she was feeling particularly vulnerable. No words were spoken after that so Bo presumed Lauren must have fallen asleep but for her part, the succubus' mind remained wide awake.

After Lauren and Bo had made their sharp exit earlier, Dyson and Athdara had continued on discussing the situation with Dagny over a whiskey or two. At some stage Dagny had appeared and the griffin explained that she was there to help solve the girl's 'little problem.' The two seemed to be getting along well although Dyson couldn't help but notice the odd glances Athdara would throw Dagny's way now and again. However once the bar had started to fill up for the evening Dagny had made her excuses, having no desire to spend her Friday night with the 'old but not-yet-grey'. As soon as the teenager had left Athdara spun back round on her bar stool and motioned to Dyson for a refill but the shifter only looked at her expectantly;

"Well?" The griffin shrugged and dug into a nearby bowl of roasted peanuts.

"Seems like a nice girl."

"And? You smelling something 'Dara?" Athdara grinned;

"Smelling stuff's always been more your thing Wolf! But she is hiding something" she continued thoughtfully, "and I'd be cautious of telling her too much until we find out what." Dyson looked doubtful.

"You don't really believe she's in on whatever this is do you?"

"No," she mumbled around a mouthful of nuts, "not consciously anyway. So no more whiskey then?"

Lauren woke up from her light doze to find Bo watching her with from what she could make out in the moonlight filtering through the curtains, an almost reverent expression.

"Hey," she smiled, "what keeps my love awake?" She asked, stroking Bo's cheek. Bo turned her face slightly to kiss Lauren's palm.

"Hmm, you!"

"Honey, I'm alright. This afternoon was a bit of a shock, that's all. I'm okay, really" and Bo was almost convinced... _almost_.

"Can you tell me about it?" The blonde shook her head.

"It was a long time ago Bo."

"But you loved her, didn't you?" She wasn't trying to come off accusatory but she knew she hadn't quite managed to keep the slight edge of panic out of her tone. Lauren swallowed hard before answering;

"Yes. At one time we were very much in love. Or at least I thought we were but Bo? I need you to not worry about this okay?" There was a firmness at the back of Lauren's words that told the succubus that at least, for the time being anyway, this topic was not up for discussion. "Now please go to sleep honey."

"One last thing...do I need to hurt anyone?" Lauren smiled in spite of herself and shook her head.

"No Bo." _There's been enough hurt to go around already..._

 **Well guys, that is it for this evening. I honestly can't remember the last time I wrote any sort of a love scene so I hope this was okay but feel free to let me know if it wasn't ;-)**

 **Just wanted to crank this one out for you guys as I really did feel a bit mean leaving you hanging like I did!**

 **See ye soon!**


	6. Chapter 6

Good afternoon folks! Well, thank you so much again to those who have either reviewed or joined us by hitting the 'follow' button. Special thanks to Ice, I've taken your advice and added what I think are better page breaks so hopefully that helps. It's maybe just as well you mentioned it actually as this chapter has some flashbacks which might fill in some blanks *hint hint*. As to the lack of reviews I'm really not sure what the answer to that is but I honestly don't have enough of an ego to sit and worry about it :-)

At the moment I'm just so delighted and grateful that the feedback I have had has been so positive so I'll be carrying on the story to its end.

In the meantime thanks for joining me!

Flashbacks are in _italics_.

 **Chapter Six**

"So that's just about it." Athdara turned to the group assembled around the large table which was really just a few of the Dàl's old wooden benches that had been pushed together in a makeshift affair. The assemblage had a definite 'day after the night before' feel to it and the tension was palpable. The only people that seemed oblivious to the undercurrents in the air were Mark and Vex seated at the far end of the table both unsure as to why they really needed to be there.

It had been Dyson that had called everyone that morning asking for this meeting and demanding that certain members of the Dennis-Lewis household draw a truce with certain other parties until the emergency was over. Bo had protested at first until Dyson reminded her that it was her own half-sister's life at stake. It seemed as though that little fact had gotten lost somewhere in the shuffle.

So there they sat, Athdara at the head of the table between Dyson and Dagny then Bo and Lauren with the blonde doctor's hand grasped tightly in Bo's on top of the dark wood surface in quiet support. The gesture had not gone unnoticed by anyone and the wolf cringed internally. Dyson had had a rough idea of what had happened years ago between the doctor and the griffin and he knew that such an obvious snub had to be twisting something painful inside the woman next to him. To her credit though, Athdara had been nothing but professional.

"So, let me get this straight. If you're taking over this whole shindig and dealing with it yourself...why exactly are we here?" Came Vex's languid tone from the back, clearly wishing he was elsewhere.

"Because I'm still going to need everyone's help Vex, I can't do it all by myself." She explained but Bo had clearly only been half-listening, holding her hand up;

"Woah, woah there! I am not handing over the wellbeing of my sister to some...some _stranger_! I don't get why one of us can't just do this" placing a hand on Dagny's shoulder who, so far, had been silent throughout the afternoon. "You're basing all of this on some storybook fantasy!" Athdara summoned up every ounce of patience she had before replying;

"Because no one here can Bo. I'm not saying you can't be a part of this. In fact, I'm saying I absolutely need every one of you. My point is that I have to be the one to defeat whatever...'representative' Hades chooses as his champion. Besides, are you forgetting that to some people each one of us sitting around this table are the stuff of stories and yet here we are. All legends have an element of truth in them, they're just open to interpretation. The last time your father tried this on you his interpretation was a tad too liberal. Unfortunately this time he was more accurate."

"But I have _been_ a champion before *and* I've defeated my father before!" Bo argued, ignoring the little hole the griffin had just poked in her logic.

"Yes Bo, I get that but this isn't your father we'll be fighting. Whoever wins, light or dark the balance must afterword be restored. It means that I, as servant of the light Gods must be the one to defeat whoever Hades selects to fight for him. Dark and Light must always be equal, neither side should ever be more powerful. Do you see what I'm saying Bo? A celestial of some description is the equivalent of whatever messenger the underworld elects." A silence followed and Athdara looked to Dyson who inhaled deeply before asking his next question;

"Are you sure you have the means to defeat whatever Bo and Dagny's father sends us?"

"He is not my father!" Interrupted Dagny before Athdara could answer and suddenly all eyes were on her making her shrink back into her seat. The griffin placed a kindly hand on her shoulder;

"Okay half pint," she whispered before turning to face Dyson again. "Yes, I am and I will not fail you. Any of you" she added, facing the teenager once more. "You'll be alright kiddo, you have my word."

"Dyson? You got a minute?"

"For you? Always." The wolf smiled from where he was polishing tulip-shaped wine glasses behind the bar though he had a feeling he knew what was coming.

"How much do you know about this girl?" She asked brassily, sliding onto a stool and leaning into him confidentially. Dyson flinched and turned to put some of the glasses up on the shelf at the back of the bar.

"She's not a girl Bo. She's older than any of us...and I know her well enough" he continued, facing Bo once again, folding his arms on the bar top.

"Can we trust her?"

"Look Bo, I know you don't like her on principle, she has a history with Lauren, I get that." The succubus leaned back on her stool and scoffed but Dyson raised his hands in placation. "C'mon Bo, you've never seen straight when it comes to Lauren and with good reason but I'm saying to you now, we can trust Athdara. Whatever happened between the two of them is their business and frankly it has no bearing on this thing with Dagny. Griffins are nothing if not honourable beings. If Athdara says she has been sent to help then that's exactly what she's here for."

"Dyson, the woman I love is in pain because that woman did something to hurt her, I can't just let that lie!"

"Yes Bo, you can." His tone brokered no argument and Bo contemplated his words for a moment.

"Dyson, do you know what happened? With Lauren?"

"How much has she told you?" The succubus looked awkward for a second, realising that she had taken too long to reply when he continued; "I think maybe you need to talk to your girlfriend about it."

"I've tried, believe me" she groaned, "she just won't open up to me on this one."

"Just give her time on this one. Let her come to you." He finished, scratching at his beard.

"Oh yeah, I forgot, I'm talking to the king of secrecy here"

The wolf just smiled in that irritatingly enigmatic way he had and Bo huffed.

On the other side of the bar Lauren slowly edged towards the dark figure outlined in the afternoon light streaming through one of the pubs large windows. Athdara had her hands firmly ensconced in her jeans pockets, having changed her attire somewhat since she had first arrived. Her arms were left bare in the white tank she wore, the definition of thick muscles outlined sharply in the contrast of the sun and the cosy darkness of the old fae tavern. The griffin made no obvious sign that she was aware of the doctor's presence but Lauren knew better.

"I know how the legend ends 'Dara...are you really going to do this?"

Athdara shook her head ruefully, smiling at Lauren's use of her nickname but she kept her back turned, not yet ready to face the hurt and anger she knew she would find in those eyes.

"Of course you know the legend," she began, chuckling to herself, "never underestimate the brilliant Doctor Lewis." Her hands balled into fists, straining against the denim. "Yes, Lauren...I have to."

A beat passed.

"Okay, there's no other way for me to do this so I'm just going to have to come out and say it...Why?"

Athdara turned her face to the side, recognising the change in subject. As soon as she had agreed to come here she had been trying to come up with a way to answer this one question but nothing had been forthcoming. She couldn't bring herself to tell Lauren the truth but she couldn't bear to lie to her either. She really thought she would have had more time but apparently the moment had arrived. She opened to her mouth to form some sort of reply-

"Don't you dare lie to me-" Lauren's voice spat through clenched teeth. Athdara had expected anger but there was venom behind Lauren's words. She closed her eyes, forcing back a suspicious moisture that had begun to burn at her eyes. Her response was quiet;

"I didn't have a choice Lauren."

"Y'know, that I do believe but you never even had the decency to say 'goodbye'. I was so... _madly_ in love with you like a stupid human but I thought...I really thought you loved me back..." she paused, breathing hard, "then one night you just disappear! I mean, I went to be thinking you were right behind me and you just..." she wailed, flinging her arms out, her fingers spread wide begging for something, anything to make sense. Finally Athdara turned around, she couldn't stand the other woman's pain but the light was behind her leaving Lauren unable to see the single tear the griffin had absently allowed to fall.

"Lauren, I-"

"No..." she held up her hand, "maybe I really can't hear this right now after all." She backed off, making a swift exit from the bar.

Many hours after the sun had gone down Bo awoke to find the sheets cool beside her. Creeping down the stairs she found Lauren on the sofa, staring contemplatively into the fire. A few years prior they had invested in a wood burning stove. Lauren loved it. She thought it gave the sometimes cold-feeling living room a warm focal point. On nights when the doctor was feeling particularly reflective she would sit in the gloaming and watch the flames dance. Despite the concern that touched around the edges of her awareness Bo still couldn't help but stop to admire the way the firelight caught the blonde's olive skin giving her a glow.

Lauren felt the cushion dip beside her, still keeping her gaze fixed firmly on the flames licking up the sides of the iron box;

"You know, I got this apartment because of her." She said, her eyes now ping-ponging around the white walls. Bo shifted uncomfortably beside her, willing herself to be patient and let Lauren talk.

"No, I didn't know that."

Lauren smiled apologetically.

"No, of course you wouldn't". She exhaled steadily, bracing herself for the talk she knew had to come but when Bo started to move nearer to her she shot her a glance in warning and Bo immediately backed off. If Lauren was going to do this she needed the space to be able to look Bo straight in the eye. "We met during the first year of my servitude to the Ash." Bo stiffened in automatic reaction to any mention of that time but Lauren couldn't quite manage to bring her the comfort that she normally would at those moments. "I never told you about her before because I never expected to see her again. I mean, it's been twenty years for Christ's sake!" She exclaimed, raising her face to the ceiling and rubbing her palm against her face. "Anyway," she continued, "she came at a time when I felt so alone and she saw me... _me_ , the insignificant human doctor. You see 'Dara never thought of humans as being any less than fae. Just the opposite in fact," she dipped her head and Bo found that she didn't much like the tiny smile that graced Lauren's lips in that moment, "she always said she admired humans."

Bo was forced to admit to herself that if all this was true then she did have a grudging admiration for the griffin's principles at least;

"So how did you to actually meet then? I mean, Dyson said these things were, like, super rare." She immediately recognised her poor choice of words at the look abruptly thrown her way by the blonde. After all, it hadn't been so long ago that the doctor herself had been thought of as a 'thing' and regardless of anything else that had happened between the two of them, the term made Lauren cringe. Bo muttered an apology and sat quiet to listen.

"Well, like I said, it was years ago, long before you and I met. Generally the gods would leave the fae to run their own affairs but every ten years or so in summits between the dark and the light both the underworld and the celestials would send envoys to attend. Supposedly standing above the politics of mortals they were supposed to ensure fair play on both sides." She chuckled sardonically, "I guess we know now that that doesn't really work but..." She trailed off.

"So this time it was Athdara's turn?" She encouraged and Lauren nodded.

"Yes. Athdara was a member of an elite group of warrior griffins that served the gods themselves. At the time I was still very new to the fae world and so all this was pretty exciting. Griffins are very rarely seen in the world so the chance to actually glimpse one up close was beyond thrilling..."

 _Lauren stood silent at the back of the hall watching the procession of fae before her. She never dared say it but this parade of representatives of the great houses all desperately trying to outdo each other in their finery was mildly hilarious. It was so foreign to anything she had experienced in her own life. She had been raised on the principles of hard work and discipline. You worked hard to get where you wanted to be, things were not simply just handed to you. It was the very ethos that had guided her through med school and everywhere from Afghanistan to the Congo but here, in this hall that dripped of opulence she was very much the odd one out. Really, it was the last place she wanted to be. She never had enjoyed large crowds, preferring instead the quiet solitude of a laboratory but the Ash had insisted she be there. Considering she was a slave he was usual fairly lenient with her, treating her more like an advisor but this night he had been in no mood for argument, the human would do as she was told._

 _The Ash himself, she allowed, was lookingparticularly resplendent in his ceremonial robes. Stood in their places of honour at either side of him were his two foremost retainers, Dyson and Hale. Lauren rather liked Hale, he treated her decently enough and always spoke directly to her with kindness. He was just a pretty laid-back kind of guy. Dyson was another matter. He made no secret of his distaste for her. She was never quite sure whether it came from a place of contempt or just sheer disregard. As a doctor, she had taken an oath to do no harm but a good slap across that arrogant smirk was a great temptation, made worse for the fact that the wolf seemed to take a delight in his taunting her, knowing full well that her hands were bound. Still, it was amusing to see both men shifting uncomfortably under their own formalwear. She herself was far more comfortable in her plain old lab coat and slacks._

 _The loud chattering in the vast echoing space was beginning to become unbearable and Lauren desperately wished she could run off somewhere quiet and shield her ears from the battering they were currently taking. But then the noise died down to a respectful murmur when the arrival of the guest of honour was announced from the great oak doors at the other end of the hall. Lauren amused herself by imagining a pair of heralds in colourful velvet tunics carrying fanfare trumpets. Instead, the crowd parted, leaving the red-carpeted route clear to the podium where the Ash stood waiting. Lauren was tucked at the rear of the group behind Hale although she still did her best to edge herself around one of the giant pennants that hung from the ceiling. She watched wide-eyed as an envoy and two companions stepped past the crowd who all bowed respectfully in what absurdly looked like a long ducking Mexican wave and Lauren had to stop herself from giggling out loud. When the party finally reached the Ash's throne though, the doctor found herself flabbergasted. She had expected the group of celestials to pay tribute to_ _ **her**_ _master but_ _instead, she along with everyone else were on now on their knees in a show of respect. The being at the centre of the group reached out a hand to the Ash with a clink of metal who regained his feet, followed by the rest of the platform party. Amazed, Lauren peeked past Hale's shoulder and found herself stunned._

 _The words of the Ash's formal greeting slipped by her in a blur as she fixated on the woman he addressed. When she had imagined the creatures that would be visiting Lauren had pictured the usual images of half lion-half eagles that she had seen in books but this woman was breathtaking, looking more like a fairytale knight in her shining armour although Lauren was quite sure that it was not composed of any ordinary steel. Under the griffin's left arm she carried a helmet that sported a high plumage of deep blue that matched the long velvet cloak that trailed behind her and at her waist hung a great sword sheathed in black leather mounted with silver. Slowly she became aware that the pair were moving, the Ash introducing the others on the podium._ _ **Oh god...he's not bringing her here is he?**_ _Lauren panicked but before she had finished the thought she found herself confronted with the very prospect. Clearly Dyson and Hale hadn't held the woman's attention for very long, or maybe the Ash was just keen to get the introductions over with._

 _Belatedly Lauren dipped into a low bow but a gentle finger curled around her chin, urging her upright._

 _"I have the honour of addressing Doctor Lewis, yes?"_

 _Nervously, Lauren found her feet, her mouth agape as she could only nod in recognition of her name but a stern look from her master made her recover her senses._

 _"Umm, yes, My Lady, I am...Lauren Lewis." She fumbled, automatically reaching out for a handshake before realising what she had done and rapidly retracting it. The Ash's gaze grew darker but the woman, on the other hand, took Lauren's fingers in her own and gave them a delicate squeeze._

 _"Doctor Lewis, my name is Athdara. I'm delighted to meet you as I'm actually a great admirer of your work. I have been following your research on the correlation of fae and human genetics with great fascination. I'm obviously a bit of a layman but I was hoping that perhaps if you have the time you could talk me though some of it during my stay here."_

 _There was a kindness in Athdara's eyes and a deep warmth in her tone that made Lauren absolutely believe what the woman was saying to her. In fact, as she was speaking the doctor had found herself starting to relax in the griffin's presence and absently she wondered if this was some kind of celestial power or if it was merely the woman's personality. She nodded enthusiastically;_

 _"Well, yes, of course, I would love to! I've been working on splicing two individual genomes to-"_

 _"That will be enough doctor." Rumbled the Ash. Lauren immediately silenced but..._ _ **was that? No, it**_ _ **couldn't**_ _ **be**_ _. Lauren could have sworn she had just witnessed a flicker of annoyance crossing Athdara's features. She honestly wasn't sure but the idea made her slightly giddy inside. Athdara smiled at the blonde one last time;_

 _"You are of course probably right Ash but I will hold you to our deal Doctor Lewis." She said diplomatically, never taking her eyes off of the woman in front of her before being led to Ash's private quarters._

"So she was nice," grumbled Bo, "what happened from there?" Despite the situation Lauren couldn't help feeling slightly tickled at Bo's expression.

"What? Would you rather she had been mean to me instead?" Bo looked up, her eyes wide. _Caught_.

"Well, no," she squirmed, "but you have to admit that if she had been then we probably wouldn't be in this situation...I'm guessing." As much as Lauren would liked to have teased Bo further, she really couldn't deny the truth of her girlfriend's words so she subsided instead.

"It went beyond 'nice' Bo." Bo kicked herself mentally. It had taken this long for Lauren to talk to her and maybe now she knew why. She hadn't exactly been making this easy for her and Lauren must have known how she would react. She sat quiet for a moment and allowed herself to listen, really listen to the blonde's story.

 _It was the following night that Lauren once again found herself standing alone in a corner, in the ballroom, in the mansion of Clan Zamora. All of the noble light fae family had spent weeks pulling strings and playing just downright dirty tricks for the honour of hosting the grand reception following the previous days ceremony. Lauren hated attending these things but just as the day before the Ash had demanded she go. In fact, it was probably even worse now that the guest of honour, who was still yet to arrive, had taken an obvious shine to her even above the Ash's own fae guardians. She couldn't help but silently grouse as those around her enjoyed themselves with copious amounts of wine, all of them congratulating each other on their superiority and the women air-kissing with forced joy. It was sickening. Having said that, Lauren would have been embarrassed to acknowledge it but part of her sour mood could have been attributed to the fact that she had not received any promised visit as yet from Athdara. She knew it was childish and she knew it was some kind of ridiculous high school-type crush but there it was and the chances were that she would not even see her this night either. Athdara would be swept away from her on a tide of wealthy ignorance as each fae family fought for scraps of the griffin's attention merely so they could boast to each other later._

 _Just as she had finished the thought however, she heard the commotion in the next room and her heart quickened as she realised the delegation had arrived. Suddenly there she was. Athdara, dressed in a very becoming yet much simpler tailored black suit with satin lapels and cuffs was making her way steadily through the throng. Her attention was being pulled in every direction with various fae septs all jostling for prime position. To her credit, Athdara was handling it admirably but Lauren swore she could see a tightening around the woman's eyes and the smile which had seemed so easy at first was becoming more and more strained as time went on. The scene started to become both tedious and cringeworthy so Lauren decided to make her way to the bar instead, thankful that the crush of people that had been there previously had now defected to where Athdara had made her arrival. As she waited on her drink being made up however, she became aware of the noise level raising slightly as more people started to filter back through. She turned around after paying the bartender and almost spilled her drink as she found herself confronted with the very woman that had been plaguing her thoughts._

 _"I'm so sorry Doctor Lewis, I didn't mean to frighten you!" Lauren could tell the apology was genuine and she smiled in response._

 _"It's alright My Lady, just my own clumsiness." The griffin shook her head, waving her hand._

 _"No, not at all, my fault entirely and please, call me Athdara. I'm not anyone's Lady, believe me." she said, puffing out air as though her patience was rapidly wearing thing and suddenly Lauren found herself feeling pity for the woman._

 _"This really isn't your thing is it?" Athdara grinned widely at her, showing a full set of perfect pearly teeth with decidedly pointy canines._

" _Is it that obvious?" Lauren shrugged, looking around them;_

 _"It's okay, it's only me and this isn't really my crowd. Oh god! I really shouldn't have said that" she finished, slapping a hand to her face. She had let herself get too comfortable for a second there, not daring to look at Athdara. But Athdara merely ducked back into Lauren's line of sight and whispered confidentially;_

 _"Doctor Lewis, it's alright. It's not really my crowd either." God, she really was just so gentle and ridiculously Lauren found herself welling up._

 _"Will you call me Lauren?" She asked in a small voice, "I mean, of course, you can call me anything, it's not my place to make you ca- god, I really shouldn't talk and drink...and I really shouldn't be saying "god" like that all the time, y'know, look at you...oh dear."_

 _Athdara was laughing at her now. An honest to goodness giggle and Lauren wanted the floor to open up and swallow her. Athdara placed her arm around the vicinity of the doctor's shoulder, not quite touching her but enough to guide her away towards an open balcony where they could talk, aware of the many prying eyes that were currently trained on the pair, no-doubt jealously wondering why Athdara had chosen the company of that human slave over theirs. Meekly, Lauren followed Athdara out into a cool evening breeze._

 _"Thank you...'Lauren'," the griffin began, tasting the name on her tongue and finding she liked it very much. She pulled out one of the white-painted patio chairs for Lauren to sit and lowered herself into one directly opposite. "I, uh, think I needed a breather." She finished, glancing towards the crowd that continued to mill around inside, many of them peering anxiously out the patio doors._

 _"Are you sure I'm not monopolising the guest of honour? As a human, I probably shouldn't even be talking to you right now." Athdara shrugged, not dwelling on the possible bitterness behind the good doctor's tone. She had never agreed with human servitude and never would but with an existing policy of non-interference on the part of her 'employers' there was little she could do._

 _"I really don't care Lauren. I'm a fighter, not a diplomat. I was sent because my masters felt the summit needed a firmer hand this year." She leaned towards the blonde; "you're not the only one in service here Lauren."_

 _Somehow Lauren did actually feel a little better hearing those words. Crazy, because they didn't change anything about her situation but she enjoyed the possibility of sharing some kind of special kinship with the woman._

 _"Can I ask you something?" she ventured quietly._

 _"Of course. Anything. I can't guarantee you an answer but you may always ask Lauren." The scientist in Lauren positively bounced for joy._

 _"Well, I had heard that griffins never remove their armour yet..." She trailed off, pointing to Athdara's dinner jacket. Athdara herself, gave a mysterious quirk of her lip, as if weighing up whether or not to let this woman in on some kind of trade secret. Lauren actually got the sneaking suspicion that Athdara really would do anything she asked although where on Earth that feeling came from she had absolutely no idea._

 _"The answer is, we don't. We just choose whether or not we wish it to be visible." Lauren's brow creased in confusion, automatically reaching out to grab Athdara's wrist and finding herself struck dumb_. _There, under the obvious silky texture of the griffin's jacket there were the telltale bumps of Athdara's intricately engraved vambraces. Their eyes met in the shared moment, neither saying a word and for just a second everything else just melted away. Lauren had heard all the cliché poems about time standing still but maybe it was all true after all. Inevitably though, it couldn't last and true enough they were rudely intruded upon by a clattering through the door. Lauren started and immediately broke away, ripping her hand away and coming to a respectful stance. Some no-doubt important woman had bustled her way through, dressed in a fine floor-length ballgown and Lauren vaguely recognised her as one of the Zamora hosts._

 _"Athdara, darling! There are so many people who wish to say 'hello' to you, please come meet them!" The woman really was obnoxious. Athdara merely chuckled and apologised, stating that she was already in conversation with the good doctor. The woman tutted in evident disapproval and moved to grab at the griffin's arm to drag her away, prattling on about wasting away a perfectly glorious evening but she stopped short as a hot steam began to rise from where her hand was gripping Athdara, just centimetres above where Lauren's own hand had been only minutes before. The woman screeched, yanking her hand away as a bright burn mark made itself apparent on her palm and she ran off squealing into the crowd._

 _Athdara stood to join Lauren at the railing where the blonde was staring blankly at her own hand._

 _"Lauren? Are you alright?" She asked gently, not wanting to further frighten her companion who only nodded in reply. "It's okay Lauren, it's an automatic reaction of the armour to unwanted attention." She explained, smirking slightly, "I imagine people here don't take too kindly to being told no."_

 _In spite of her shock Lauren giggled, still not yet feeling okay with laughing at her own masters, paranoid in case this was really all just some kind of plan to trip her up._

 _"So my attention was wanted?" She asked shyly. Athdara smiled that enigmatic little smile again._

 _"Honest scientific curiosity is always more than welcome."_

 _After that, they talked long into the night about Lauren's varied exploits, both in medicine and in her extensive travels. Athdara explained that she was in fact, in awe of humans and their many accomplishments. She had never understood the fae notion of racial superiority and theorised that there may have been some jealousy at the back of it to which Lauren only reluctantly commented. Athdara's feeling was that humans had adapted to so much over the millennia that she herself had borne witness to and all without the advantages the fae possessed innately. Humans, as she had put it, had to work so much harder to get anywhere in life. It was the most conversation Lauren had experienced in over years and eventually Athdara could see that her human intrigue was starting to flag._

 _"Lauren, do you want to home? It's past midnight and you've been up since, what? 5am?" Lauren sighed tiredly._

 _"I can't. I'm not allowed to go home until the Ash says and by the looks of things," she said, glancing through the glass balcony doors, "he's not going to be ready to leave any time soon." Athdara frowned;_

 _"Yeah well, he hasn't been up and about as long as you have. Lauren, I may not be able to meddle much in fae business but even the high and mighty Ash wouldn't dare argue with me. Do you want to go home?" Lauren, couldn't quite bring herself to speak the words, she just lowered her eyes and nodded silently._

 _"Come on then my puny little human," Athdara joked as she lifted the exhausted doctor up into her arms and for once, Lauren knew it wasn't meant as an insult, "let's get you home. What the Ash doesn't know..."_

 _Lauren closed her eyes, almost daring herself to feel comfortable in the arms of this complete stranger whom all of faedom revered. Abruptly though, her eyes shot open, wondering what what was happening, suddenly aware that she was no longer on terra firma. She looked down and saw streets moving below her...wait...a heavy gust brushed cool against her face as the griffin's giant snowy wings that had magically appeared from somewhere shifted the air about them._

 _"Keep your eyes open just now Lauren, I'm going to need directions!"_

 _Almost regretfully Lauren successfully guided them to the block containing her apartment, thrilling in her impromptu flight. Athdara just about managed to hide her shock at the shabby building the Ash was housing his chief medical officer in on the very edges of light fae territory. The external fire escape stairway had several segments missing and loud shouts could be heard emanating from inside the building. The stone walls had clearly suffered some damage at some point and she was sure there were gaps in the roof tiles. She placed a hand on Lauren's shoulder;_

 _"Will you be okay from here Lauren?" Lauren must have caught the look of concern etched on Athdara's features as she had set them down on the street corner and grasped said hand in her own._

 _"I'll be alright." And another silence passed between them just as powerful as before, "I should get some sleep, I'll be up again in a few hours." She whispered, not quite ready to break the spell but the griffin nodded._

 _"May I see you tomorrow?" She asked, flushing slightly, "I mean, I was going to ask if I could stop by for that tour of the labs." It was Lauren's turn to giggle this time as she nodded her assent. They bid each other 'goodnight', Athdara waiting until Lauren had long closed the door before walking off into the night._

 _As Lauren lay in bed staring up at the ceiling she grinned to herself, feeling pathetic all the while she did so. Someone had seen her and suddenly she no longer felt quite so invisible. She felt...human._

 **Well everyone that chapter took a bit of knocking out! Hope you enjoyed it, you'll have to wait for the next instalment to get Bo's reaction to Lauren's tale. Like I said in a previous chapter I wanted to give Bo her voice has from here on out we go very Lauren-centric. Hope you enjoyed and I promise we'll be continuing to fill in more and more blanks. Also, to one reviewer who was making sure I was keeping this Doccubus, don't worry guys, I won't be splitting our girls up for anything ;-)**

 **Take care until next time!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Ahhh, reviewers, reviewers, reviewers (and welcome to our new followers too!) you've made me so happy! Big thanks to those who have taken the time to pass on your comments/ideas, still completely delighted and humble by all the positivity that's been sent my way! This story is definitely for you guys :-D**

 **Once again flashbacks are in** ** _italics_** **, they'll be appearing throughout the rest of the story.**

 **Chapter Seven**

Lauren lay wide awake in what was normally her favourite place in the world with her head tucked under Bo's chin and her thigh tossed possessively across the succubus' hip. This night however, Bo's skin radiated warmth under her cheek as usual but the embrace felt stiff and somehow less than comforting. The brunette had been worryingly quiet as they had returned to bed, barely uttering a single word once Lauren had finished her story but Lauren was damned if she was going to apologise for being honest. After all, Bo herself had had a much more colourful romantic history than she had and she had never passed judgement. Lauren had loved exactly three people in her life, one of which being the woman with whom she currently shared a bed. At one time in the past she had been very much in love with Athdara. Long before she and Bo had even met, in fact. No, Lauren would not lie, nor be made to feel guilty.

She huffed loudly, turning away to face the wall. Bo was the centre of her world and for the most part she was perfectly happy with her lot but _God_ , that woman could really drive her crazy sometimes! She curled in on herself, tucking her hands under her pillow as she let her mind drift. She chose to believe it was completely natural, to wonder how things could have been different but in the end, if she was going to be truthful to Bo then she had to first be honest within her own mind. A tiny part of her was forced to acknowledge that on very rare occasions she longed for the past before a twinge of guilt would squeeze at her chest.

For a brief time her and 'Dara had been happy. Or so she had believed anyway. It wasn't that she loved Bo any the less or Athdara more but it had been a different kind of relationship. Athdara had _courted_ her. She sometimes felt she had missed out on that with Bo. When Bo put the effort in, she really could make Lauren feel like the only woman in the world...but then there had been those darker times when the succubus had shown a capacity to make her feel utterly worthless. Neither Lauren nor 'Dara had ever treated each other badly as her and Bo had done to each other on many, many occasions. _There again_ , she allowed, _maybe we just never got the chance_. They hadn't had the time to hurt each other until the day came when the griffin just upped and disappeared and the seemingly endless pain Lauren had felt then had more than made up for the previous lack of it. She screwed her eyes shut at the memory, lifting her bent knees up to her chest, pyjama bottoms sticking to the cotton sheets. Not wishing to dig herself into that particular hole in the dead of night she focussed instead on a happier memory, electing to pick up where her story had left off, hoping that it might bring with it some sense of peace;

 _"Knock! Knock!"_

 _"Who's there?" Grinned the doctor from behind her microscope, playing along with the rich, melodious voice floating through the doorway. Honestly, the woman really could have been reciting the phone book and Athdara would still be giving Lauren the chills._

 _"I love."_

 _"I love who?" Called back Lauren, rolling her eyes._

 _"I don't know, you tell me!" Athdara finished, grinning widely as she swung round the doorframe and stepped lightly into the lab. "Sorry, I couldn't think of a decent doctor joke in time!" Lauren lifted her eyes from her slides and smiled widely in return but the griffin quickly noted the dark circles marking out the blonde's tiredness. "Bad time?" she asked, indicating the various strewn papers and samples cluttering up the workspace. Lauren came around from behind the desk, Athdara finding herself distracted from the blonde's somewhat disheveled appearance by the distinct sway in the woman's hips._

 _"It's never a bad time 'Dara..."she stopped short, clapping a hand over her mouth, "I'm sorry!" But Athdara shook her head, her shoulders twitching suspiciously as she did so._

 _"Lauren it's fine, I like it actually" she said, curling her fingers about the other woman's shoulders but the doctor had fallen silent and Athdara's eyes grew concerned; "everything okay?"_

 _The blonde nodded profusely but seemed unable to match the griffin's gaze and she puffed in resignation. "I've been warned about becoming too familiar." She mumbled._

 _"What?" Athdara asked incredulously, not quite believing what she thought she had just heard coming out of the Lauren's mouth. The blonde sighed a touch louder this time and finally raised her face to Athdara's._

 _"I've been told not to get too friendly with you. Apparently the Ash wasn't too impressed by our little disappearing act last night."_

 _"Ah." replied the griffin, dropping her hands from Lauren's shoulders. Instead she cleared a small space for herself to perch on the edge of the doctor's desk. "Lauren, has anything happened? Did they do anything..."_

 _"Oh no!" Rushed Lauren, "no, they just...outlined the rules." She said, adding air quotes._

 _"Lauren, would you like to take a turn around the garden with me?" Athdara asked thoughtfully after a brief moment. Lauren's face scrunched in alarm._

 _"Did you just hear a word I said?"_

 _"I did," replied the griffin, her voice at an almost dangerous register, "but if the Ash expects you to work these ridiculous hours he can't just go treating you like a slave in a dungeon. You're exhausted Lauren, you need some daylight!"_

 _"But I'm not supposed to just up and leave during working hours...and I am a slave in a dungeon." She muttered quietly, her head bowed. Athdara grumbled and rubbed her face in frustration._

 _"Well," she began, "if the Ash has a problem then we'll blame me okay? Trust me, like I said before, I'm the last person he wants to upset." Despite her better judgement Lauren did trust her and she actually did feel quite reassured as she gracefully took the elbow that the griffin had proffered, dropping her lab coat over the back of her chair, leaving her in a light blue spaghetti Tee over her dress slacks. At long last, someone was in her corner. Of course, she never stopped to wonder what would happen if and when Athdara wasn't there anymore to protect her._

 _It was a rare occasion that saw Lauren venture out into the compound's central gardens. Although to say 'gardens', well, it was more of a stately park really. Once in a while the doctor would pay a visit to one of the small herb gardens where certain plants were grown for either medicinal or culinary purposes but these larger grounds existed purely for the aesthetic. It even contained within it several different 'zones' where different types of landscape were cared for by fastidious nature-dwelling fae._

 _Athdara led them straight to the wild garden up the far end, past the immaculately manicured lawns and trickling fountains, where she knew prying eyes would be less likely to follow. This particular area had been left to grow rampant and had become a wonderful haven for all manner of creatures. The majority of the fae had little interest in the natural world but Athdara found the little insects and beasts that roamed the Earth's countryside fascinating, each with its own reason for being. She found the doctor's hand and grasped her fingers tightly within her own._

 _"The terrain here is a bit treacherous underfoot" she explained. During their walk neither had felt much like making comment under the passing scrutiny of others but the second they found themselves enveloped by the shelter of oak trees and tall wild grasses Lauren inhaled the varied fresh scents deeply and felt infinitely calmer. In a picture perfect postcard of a moment she leaned heavily against a nearby trunk and lifted her face to the sun, bathing herself in the warm rays, finding great solace in the thickness of the tree as she dug her fingers into the crispy bark behind her. Athdara for her part was more than content to witness the blonde bask in this little taste of freedom, making herself comfortable on a felled stump and looking on with a soft expression. Many minutes passed before Lauren felt any inclination to open her eyes. When she did she felt herself dazzled. Athdara's own eyes seemed to be reflecting every colour of the myriad of flowers surrounding them, twinkling like tiny dancing faeries. Not only was it mesmerising but it sent Lauren's inner geek rushing to the surface. Athdara grinned up at her, the curiosity was practically flooding out of the other woman in great waves._

 _"Ask me." She said simply. Lauren twirled her way over and plopped down on the stump beside her, aware of how tightly their bodies had to press together for them both to fit. Athdara was more absorbed in the sudden change in the other woman's character, she couldn't believe how light and free the doctor seemed in this place. She would have to bring her out here more often._

 _"You sure? There are so many things I want to know!"_

 _"Ask me." Athdara said again._

 _"Well, okay, for starters, how old are you?" Athdara feigned shock, smacking a hand hard against her chest._

 _"Have you never heard that it's impolite to to ask a lady her age?" She mock-gasped before breaking back into that wide smile again. "Alright, I suppose I stopped counting after a certain point and...y'know, time really has no meaning where I come from but I was around when your people were building their pyramids if that helps." She couldn't help the slight snicker that escaped her lips at Lauren's jaw which seemed to have temporarily escaped its hinge!_

 _"You were in ancient Egypt?" She continued to gape. "Okay so, are you considered one of the older of your kind or...do you have children?" She felt almost shameful at the sliver of fear that lanced down her back as she asked but to her great relief Athdara shook her head in the negative._

 _"No, none of us do. I'm neither one of the eldest nor the youngest." She paused for a second and once again Lauren had the feeling she was being let in on some secret that she wasn't strictly meant to know. "You see, originally there were four griffins. They served the Gods directly. The Egyptians even had names for them although they didn't quite realise the true nature of the beings they were worshipping. These griffins even appeared during sacred ceremonies from time to time bringing words of wisdom or advice straight from the Gods themselves. This is how they came to be known as the messengers of the heavens. However, as civilisations grew and both man and fae grew ever greedier these peace-keeping messengers found themselves stretched far too thinly. So, they gained permission to create new messengers and also began training some of the most gifted as warriors to help in the world's trouble spots. For a while man and fae alike called on us regularly for help but eventually a new order swept the globe in Christianity. We were relegated to realms of 'mythology' and so we gradually retreated from humans. Of course, the fae still know of our existence but as time went on they became arrogant. The original four griffin who by this time had become the 'Elders' believed the fae unworthy, essentially leaving them to their own destruction."_

 _Lauren sat there in awe, her scientist's brain working overtime on this new information as bumblebees ladened with sticky pollen zipped past her ears._

 _"Are you saying that, at one time, humans and fae coexisted peacefully?"_

 _"Yes, for quite a long time." She whispered, watching avidly the cogs ticking in the doctor's mind._

 _"And griffins don't produce young? Ever?" Athdara shrugged nonchalantly._

 _"In theory, I suppose we could but no. See, griffins as beings are creatures made up of pure love. We are not born as you are. The original four were created from the love of the celestials themselves. The rest of us were borne of that same magic. The love we carry then, is not meant for each other. We bring that love to those in this world who need our help either as messengers bringing hope and inspiration or like myself, through humanitarian aid and war."_

 _Lauren's inner scientist bubbled throughout the afternoon all the way back to her her lab where, after the doctor talked her through some of her research on genetics as promised, Athdara placed a kiss on the blonde's head and Lauren felt a little pulse of that love the griffin had spoken of. It spread from her crown down through her fingers and toes then pooled in a warm liquid in her midriff. As she left her to her work, Athdara breathed into Lauren's silk-soft hair, letting it tickle her nose and cheeks. For the rest of the day the words 'someone cares' floated merrily around Lauren's subconscious._

The next morning found Dagny huffing and puffing grumpily through some of Grandpa Trick's dusty old tomes that Dyson had insisted she start reading. In fact, his hands were propped on the slick wooden surface from the business side of the bar as he stared down at the girl when Bo sauntered in, flooding daylight into the gloomy cave.

"Hey kiddo, what'cha doin'?" She asked Dagny chirpily as she dropped down onto a stool beside her.

"Learning about my heritage." She grumbled, doing a half-hearted imitation of serious-voice Dyson. Bo just raised her eyebrows to the wolf in a ' _seriously_?' to which the man offered a smug ' _you_ _bet'cha_ ' in return. Turning back to face her sister she noticed Dagny's eyes kept darting to the door.

"Missing something?" She asked knowingly. The teenager flushed a bright shade of crimson.

"Oh, just umm, wondering where Lauren was, that's all." She replied, desperately trying to sound unruffled by her sister's teasing. The succubus just beamed, happy with the fact that Dagny clearly thought the world of her would-be sister-in-law...as long as she kept her eyes in her head!

"She'll be along in a while" she relented. "Where's your friend?" She asked, turning to Dyson.

"She's-"

"Y'know she's pretty cool Bo." Interrupted Dagny, a touch too enthusiastically for Bo's liking frowning in response;

"Cool... _how_?" She asked in her best motherly tone. The teenager winced almost imperceptibly, toying with her fingers on the tacky bartop.

"Umm, you know, she just is. She's nice," she nodded reassuringly, "Dyson told me that her Lauren had a thing."

"Uhh, yeah..." _Boy, this conversation just gets weirder_ she thought to herself. "So anyway, I was thinking, maybe you and I should do some sister bonding stuff soon just the two of us. What do you think?" She asked, determinedly changing the subject and slinging an arm about the girl's shoulders. "We haven't really had much time just to do something fun since you got here."

"I'd love to" she jumped, looking up at Bo so earnestly that it was almost heartbreaking. "Will you tell me some more about my mother too?" The heavy door to the cellar scraped open with a loud creak and Bo cringed when a newly familiar "Dyson..."

sounded out from behind her. "Sure thing kid," she whispered into Dagny's blonde tresses. _God she really_ _is so like Tamsin_ , thought Bo. "So what do you wanna do?" She asked, electing to ignore the chatter going on between Athdara and Dyson in the background. She began reeling off a list of potential 'sister dates', barely noticing the way the girl paled when she mentioned 'movies and pizza' but Dyson and Athdara did.

"Dag, you okay?" Came the wolf's gruff tones. Bo glanced down and gave the teen's shoulder a strong squeeze.

"Kiddo? What is it?" But Dagny's face remained impassive, her gaze distant, she swallowed convulsively. Dyson and Athdara exchanged glances from their spots behind the bar.

"Think this is what you meant the other night?"

"What _what_ you meant? What night?" Snapped Bo, fiery eyes twitching back and forth between the two of them. "Dyson, what are you talking about?"

"Nothing concrete Bo," he began, raising his palms contemplatively, "we just...'Dara thought that maybe there was something more going on with Dagny, like maybe she knew something..." But before Bo could react the griffin had edged around the bar, coming to a kneel in front of a suddenly traumatised-looking young lady.

"Dag, honey, come on, whatever it is you can tell us, yeah? I promise, no one's going to get angry." She pleaded, placing a gentle hand on the girl's knee. Bo couldn't help but bristle at the griffin's use of the word 'honey' but Dagny did seemed to be responding... _and where's all this 'Dag' stuff come from_ _anyway_? she grumbled internally.

"Is this about your Aunt Kenzi?" She asked softly into Dagny's ear and the girl nodded hesitantly.

"H-he took her." She stammered.

"Who took her Dag?" 'Dara asked just as gently. "It's okay, you can tell us."

"Our dad," she cried, daring to look up at Bo's face where flashes of blue began to emerge in the normally chocolate-coloured orbs. "Or at least, someone did for him," she continued, turning back to face the griffin once more, "we'd gone to see a movie and w-we were walking to the car when...he just sorta appeared in front of us." Desperately, she gazed up at Bo again, terrified of the fury she saw brewing within the succubus's features. "I didn't mean...I mean, I couldn't help and he told me not to say..."

"It's alright Dagny," Athdara soothed, drawing the girl's attention back again, "Bo...Calm. Down."

"He said you'd find out when the time was right." The griffin nodded thoughtfully, raising her face to meet Dyson's scrutiny.

"Dag, you said someone else came to get Kenzi too. Can you remember what they looked like?" Asked Dyson.

"Yeah, he was big...shaved head and he had a tattoo...on his neck, I don't know what you'd call it though." Dyson slid a credit card slip and a pencil towards her.

"Think you could draw it?" Dagny proceeded to give a rough sketch of what she could remember of the guy's ink. She slipped it round once she's finished. Athdara and Dyson shared another worried glance.

"Ohh, this isn't good..." Muttered the griffin under her breath.

"Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on here?" Sniped Bo, maintaining a death grip on Dagny's shoulder.

"I know what Hades has chosen as his champion. This isn't a tattoo," she said, tapping her index finger on the crinkled paper, "this is a brand. A brand that must be forged by a dragon's own breath..."

 **Well guys, I was going to continue this further but I decided I wanted another little mini-cliffhanger. You can probably unravel a wee clue as to what happened to Athdara from this chapter but don't worry, I still have plenty of twists up my sleeve!**

 **Can I just reassure people that have been messaging me a bit worried that this story is becoming a bit anti-doccubus, it really isn't. The bottom line is,mwe all have a past and we all have our own feelings regarding that past, that's just a theme I wanted to explore but doccubus is staying firmly doccubus in my little universe.**

 **Felt a little bit like I was having to crank this one out, feel a wee bit clunky in places to me so if you no likey you can let me know :-p Have a great weekend folks and thanks again for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello all! Wee bit longer between updates this time. There's been a fair bit happening here, a few changes going on so the writing has taken a bit of a backseat. To be honest, I've kinda fallen out of the groove of this story just with everything that's been going on so I'll give this chapter a go and see if I can get back into it but if it doesn't work then the story may well end up getting shelved. We'll see...oh, by-the-way, I've never been to Canada so apologies for any geographical mistakes!**

 **Chapter Eight**

By the time Lauren pushed her way past the heavy oak door carrying two well-frothed cappuccinos from the little café across the street the Dàl was a-flurry with activity, finding herself greeted by a cacophony of thumping boots on wood flooring, raised voices and rustling papers; the tension, one you could cut with the proverbial knife. Bo and Dyson stared blankly at a large map that had been hastily splayed across the bar top, sticking fast in places where stale beer stains lingered while a pale-faced Dagny sat dumbfounded on a stool being gently quizzed by Athdara although over just what Lauren couldn't quite make out.

She groaned inwardly. It had already felt like such a long morning, neither she nor Bo ready to discuss the previous evening's revelations. Lauren, because she was still feeling somehow oddly defiant about the whole thing and Bo? She could only surmise her partner's views at this point but clearly, their own personal problems would have to be tabled for another time. Yet again another crisis would intercede and their relationship placed on the back burner. She edged over to the map her girlfriend and Dyson were currently scrutinising, her sharp eyes immediately honing in on three separate areas where rough circles had been drawn in bright red ink. It wasn't until the doctor got nearer that she could hear the hushed argument taking places between the two;

"Dyson, we don't _know_ anything! She could literally be anywhere! All we've got to go on is-"

"Hey...I got your coffee," interrupted Lauren, proffering the steaming cup to Bo, "what's going on?" She asked, using the same quiet tone, leaning her elbow on the bar as she turned to face the conversation.

"Kenzi's been taken."

"What? When?" Bo let out a hard gush of air and pounded her palms into her forehead in frustration.

"We don't know much. It happened right before my sister came to us. Our doting dad whipped Kenzi away right in front of her then told the poor kid how to find us. Dagny said the guy that took her had some kind of tattoo and that he was bringing her somewhere we would find her." She said sliding the flimsy paper napkin with the young woman's drawing across for Lauren to take a look. "Dyson's friend over there," she continued, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder at Athdara "says that it's a dragon brand and that they live in caves. Do you have any idea how many damn caves there are in the Ontario area?!"

"Fifty!" Came the instant reply, as if she were on some daytime quiz show. Bo tossed her an exasperatedly tolerant grin.

"Right, of course you know!"

"Well, if he wants you to find her I assume you've already narrowed it down to the South/South Eastern area."

"Yeah but no dragon's going to be living anywhere that any tourist could just happen by. We've been looking at known caves, trying to see any where there are large enough gaps for any subterranean tunnels to link up." Chimed in the wolf. "We need somewhere off the beaten track where no tourist is just going to happen on by by chance."

"Well not necessarily," said Lauren, that slight light bulb look emerging over her features, "I mean, what about the Centennial Parkway Caves? They're sealed off, no one's been down them in years. It was thought that the caverns there could go on for miles." Bo gave a short fist pump;

"Didn't I tell you my girlfriend was a genius?" Lauren lowered her face, still made shy by compliments even after all the time they had been together. "But if they're sealed then how do we get in? There must be some kind of concealed entrance but where?"

Dyson and Lauren locked eyes and shrugged;

"We go hiking."

About an hour later the doctor, succubus, griffin and teenager had piled into the Camaro for the forty-five minute drive to where the Centennial Parkway linked up with the Bruce Hiking Trail that cut a high path through the Niagara Escarpment, Dyson following closely on his old Triumph. Lauren glanced in the rearview to see Dagny with her blonde head resting heavily on Athdara's armour-clad chest, the other woman's arm wrapped tightly about the girl's shoulder and Lauren closed her eyes for just a second. Her heart was playing tricks with her mind...or perhaps it was the other way around? She cast another look at Dagny. _Poor girl must be exhausted_ , she thought before turning back to the road. The same thoughts that always flooded in every time the group were headed for an emergency began to flit about the doctor's head. Bo had once told her that the problem with having such an oversized brain was that it just gave you more space to worry! Bo glanced across from the drivers side at the sound of Lauren's chuckle and the two shared a brief smile. For a moment Lauren was able to take heart. Yes, they had had problems before and doubtless would in the future but they somehow they had always managed to find each other. Lauren's feelings over Athdara were confusing, she could admit that to herself but there was not a question in her mind that Bo was her life partner, however long that life would be. She couldn't help it, her thoughts inevitably turned maudlin when danger was present, ever-fearful that this day could be their last, wondering when their luck would finally run out. She had been proven wrong so many times in the past, maybe that was why her insecurities returned to plague her now. She remembered the last time she had felt like this when 'Dara had been around. Some of it she hadn't actually been present for but she had picked up bits and pieces afterward.

 _Dyson had looked strangely and with no little suspicion at the two women when he nudged open the glass door to the lab. He was heading out on the hunt for some underfae that had been causing trouble in some forestry on the outskirts of the city and he needed Lauren to come up with a precautionary antidote. These particular fae could excrete a nasty toxin on direct contact with the skin and the last thing he needed was to get burned by some kind of disgusting snot-green gunk. Athdara had had a distinct twinkle in her eye when she had offered her assistance, knowing that the wolf could not refuse. She was well aware the scruffy-faced shifter harboured a dislike towards her which she found both amusing and curious. So it was that they found themselves hiding among the bracken covering a low ridge in the middle of the woods waiting silently for their targets to appear._

 _They had lain there in uneasy silence for nearly two hours._

 _"Jealousy is a terrible thing y'know Dyson" Athdara smirked, a taller patch of grass tickling devilishly at her nose. The wolf tried valiantly to hide the growl that was threatening around the pit of his throat._

 _"It is only out of respect for your position that I'm going to let that one pass Griffin" he snarled. Athdara gave a rueful laugh._

 _"I have watched you for a very long time Wolf. Since you were a child in fact. You never did want to be wolf did you?" She glanced at him out the corner of her eye. "It's the reason, albeit an illogical one, as to why you don't like me. Haven't done since I first arrived have you?" Her only reply was a gruff snort. "Tell me I'm wrong then."_

 _"I don't trust you," he said after a short pause, adjusting himself deeper into the slightly damp earth, deciding to play the griffin at her own game. "If we're talking character analysis here then I'd say you have quite the thing for humans."_

 _"Well I don't see them as food" she answered in a deceptively mild tone. "...or slaves." She looked at him pointedly. "After all, any species that relies on the enforced servitude of another is frankly...inherently weak."_

 _She had won._

 _"Dyson, when you were a boy, you wanted nothing more than to be like your friend. A gryphon. An Earth-bound cousin of the celestials, used as the light and dark messengers of the Ash and Morrigan. You wanted to fly. For you, the dream of soaring high through the sky was a freedom you could not find on the ground no matter how hard you ran. You were never satisfied with what you were. Now you are the man who appears to have grown content within himself but despite the many years you have walked this Earth the childlike part of you still wonders why things must be the way they are. Your most basic fundamental desire was to be something that was impossible. You walk alone. Never truly one of the pack_ , _you had to choose your own path in the end. Someone like you, Dyson, will always long for the one thing he cannot have, whether you truly wish for it in your heart or not. When you look at me, you are confronted with that pain you keep so well hidden and I will not be the last."_

 _Athdara's words echoed around Dyson's head with an air of the prophetic about them and though he hated it, there was a deep, dark innermost fragment of himself that could not deny the truth of the woman's words. But just in that instant a distant rustle caught his attention and he raised his nose in the air._

 _"They're close" he said. Athdara nodded and drew her sword from the leather scabbard that hung from a highly polished belt. The small rustle grew nearer, turning to the loud crunch of bark and gravel snapping under heavy...hooves? Athdara wasn't one for making snap judgements but these had to be some of the ugliest creatures that she had ever had the misfortune to lay eyes on as she peeked over their makeshift parapet. Standing a full ten foot tall in front of them were two 'Cacusites', the slightly smaller descendants of the ancient Roman giant Cacus. But what the hell were they doing this far inland? They were usually coastal or swamp dwellers. Then again, perhaps a question to be shelved for another time as one of the creatures proceeded to grab a tree and pull it whole from the ground, scrabbling around frantically among the remaining roots. Both Dyson and Athdara froze, horrified as the cacusites began ferreting out a variety of human limbs, feasting on them with abandon, teeth crunching sickeningly through flesh and bone. Then everything happened so quickly. Dyson leapt their small trench, the iron stench of blood strong in his nostrils. Athdara saw no option but to follow quickly, blade drawn high in attack. The surprise didn't work. Athdara immediately went for one of the giants already beginning to tear into the wolf and was rewarded with a single hard swipe that sent her body careening off until it slammed into a nearby tree. In the moment it took for her to recover her senses the beast was already stomping its way towards her, raising its arm well above its head she knew the power of the upcoming blow would be enough to crush her skull to smithereens. Gathering as much strength into her arms as she could she dived for the cacusite's exposed left flank. Gripping the hilt tightly with both hands the force of driving her blade into the belly of this great beast ricocheted through, forearm and bicep all the way up to her shoulders. The Cacusite gave a great bellow and managed to twist itself away, almost but not quite snapping the sword. The mangled blade now stuck out defiantly from the giant's gut with Athdara still attached to it as he frantically swung from side to side. As much as it pained her to do it, Athdara curled her wrists further around the handgrip and pulled. She pulled with all of her might until every sinew burned. A bitter tear escaped her as she deliberately twisted the blade around in her opponent's stomach, destroying the trusted ally she had carried with her for many lifetimes for good. She gave a final heave and what was left of the sword came free with a last swipe, spilling with it foul-smelling entrails all over the ground. Athdara did not pause for breath however. Just a few yards away she could see Dyson snarling in a half-shift where the other giant had him pinned. Ignoring the tearing of her own flesh, she grabbed what remained of her own blade and snapped the last tendril of metal connected to the handle and threw the still razor sharp shank through the air. It flew end over end until it hit home in the giant's back. It would not be enough to pierce through the cacusite's thick hide to it's heart but it would be enough of a distraction for the wolf to break free. Dyson took his chance and clawed at the beast, forcing it to back off. With relief, it look as though the creature was about to cut and run but in a final spurt of rage it did something no cacusite had ever been able to do before. Athdara stood slack-jawed for just a second as the giant breathed a torrent of fire in Dyson's direction. Dyson had frozen in horror until he found his vision covered by something white and for a brief moment he thought he had been blinded until he felt air rushing about his feet and hair. The white membrane began to take on a charred black colour and the smell of burning flesh reached his nose. Flying injured on one wing was a bit of an ordeal but Athdara would manage the few hundred yards to where they had parked the black van borrowed for this mission from the Light Compound._

 _It had been a fairly quiet day in the lab. Lauren had spent most of the afternoon cataloguing samples, tedious enough you would think but Lauren never minded. She had more than enough opportunity for excitement in the Light Fae clinic as it was. Still, her mind was ticking over with concern. Occasionally she would stop and chide herself at her own ridiculousness but still. Of course 'Dara could look after herself! It was Dyson she didn't trust._

 _The clock had eventually ticked over to five and Lauren sighed to herself, it was doubtful she would see Athdara again this day so there was nothing to do but pack up her remaining samples and head home for the evening. But just as she had finished the thought the door burst open and the sight that greeted her then caused her heart to plummet into her stomach. Dyson was hefting along a very battered-looking griffin into the medical centre. The doctor's blood ran cold as she took note of the variety of injuries covering the pair._

 _"Doc!" Dyson appeared more rattled that Lauren could ever remember seeing him._

 _"Over here!" She yelled, wheeling a spare table next to the one she pointed, creating a sort of 'L-shape' at the head. Dyson slowly lowered the griffin onto one table while Lauren guided the damaged wing onto the spare. The one and only other time Athdara had used her wings in Lauren's presence before she had been cradled in the griffin's arms and hadn't really been able to tell just how big they actually were. Here at full-span they seemed to take up half the width of the lab. While Lauren fussed over Athdara, assessing the extent of the woman's injuries a husky voice piped up;_

 _"I'll heal, see to Dyson." But Lauren ignored her and continued her ministrations. "Lauren, I'm fine."_

 _"No!" Lauren exclaimed and she knew that her panic had gotten the better of her but she seemed to have little control over her reactions. Her blood was up and her doctor's clinical calm had vacated the moment she had sighted the wolf carrying Athdara limply before her. "You don't get to tell me what to do here! I'm the doctor and I'm in charge!" Her breathing had become laboured and an angry heat burned at her cheeks the longer she stared at Athdara's blackened skin. Absurdly the griffin was grinning up at her in something like approval and though Lauren felt her annoyance flare she also felt something warming inside of her._

 _"Doc, I'm fine," Dyson's soft voice reached her ears, "nothing I can't come back for later. Take care of my friend there" he finished, raising his hand in farewell but the doctor gave little notice as she was vaguely aware of the door clicking closed behind her. Thankfully the griffin's other injuries didn't actually look too severe, just some minor bruising where the armour didn't quite cover but Athadar's eyelids were threatening to close with exhaustion. Lauren was trying to ease a few icepacks under the feathered side of the injured wing in an effort to stop the heat from spreading further but the appendage was too heavy._

 _"Honey, can you lift for me?" She asked, not quite catching the pet name that slipped from her mouth as she slid gentle hands under the arm of the wing but Athdara did and she smiled through the effort it took to raise the extra limb high enough. Lauren guided her back down again to rest before scraping a tall stool over to the corner where the two gurneys met, seating herself as she began to apply cool compresses to the fragile skin-like membrane of the inner side. "I read somewhere that griffins lose their connection to the heavens when their wings break." She said._

 _"My doctor, you do love your research." Lauren could hear the teasing tone in Athdara's voice and replied in kind._

 _"Yes I do."_

 _"Well...my connection isn't quite broken, just weakened. Might take me a bit longer to heal. You have a very soft touch Doctor Lauren." She added, her words starting to slur as tiredness overtook before finally closing her eyes. Lauren sat back on her stool, lifting away the compresses. She would leave the icepacks on for a few more minutes. She knew in her mind that it was impossible. Something like this would never work but somehow this knowledge was not enough to stop the spark of hope that filled her when the griffin was near. She eased forward, her lips a mere breath away from Athdara's right cheek as her left hand sought out the other, stroking the hair away from the celestial's face. Tenderly she pressed a kiss to the woman's temple, desperately trying to push her emotions through the contact as Athdara had done before. She knew it was futile really but she hoped the griffin could at least feel something. Sighing, she lowered her head to 'Dara's plated chest, the metal feeling soothingly cool against her face and she closed her own eyes. A single tear slipped unacknowledged from beneath her lashes as she felt the weight of Athdara's arm instinctively wrapping around her torso. For the first time since her ordeal with the fae had begun Lauren was safe._

She was jolted out of her reverie as the beaten-up old Camaro bounced around on the roughly gravelled driveway at the starting point for the Bruce Trail. None of them were exactly sure how far along the escarpment the caves were but they each had the feeling that if Kenzi was really in there her guards would not be shy in making their presence felt.

In an effort to cover more ground they split up into two teams, Dyson and Athdara on one with Bo, Lauren and Dagny on the other. Dyson had 'borrowed' a few emergency flares from one of his old cop buddies, issuing three to each team in case one of them should find the a way in to the caves. It took around an hour or so but eventually Dyson spotted a bright green flare reaching far up into the fading light above the trees.

Dagny and her teenage patience had begun to get fed up. Surely they had to have been walking around in circles?! She slumped down onto a relatively clear patch of ground with a great huff, watching Lauren and Bo continuing to poke at the ground ahead when suddenly she felt the ground shift and give way beneath her. Both Bo and Lauren jerked toward the loud scream as Dagny dropped bodily several feet into a cramped pit. Before Bo could object Lauren immediately jumped in after the girl, tearing open her med kit before she had even fully come to land. Crouching down in the tiny crawl space she took the girl's face in her hands;

"Dag, sweetie? Are you okay? Does anything hurt?" She felt a suspicious dampness around her fingertips and she kissed the girl's forehead, taking her in a tight embrace as she rubbed the girl's back. "It's okay, you're okay" she soothed, over and over again.

"I think...m-my hand, like, maybe m-my wrist is hurt." Lauren gently thumbed at the proffered appendage, feeling around the bones for any little snap before nodding in agreement.

"Guys! Are you two okay down there?" Bo's call echoed around the eerily quiet chamber.

"Yes Bo but I think Dagny has a fractured wrist. We need to get her out of here." Lauren shouted back. She flashed her torch around her in a circle. There really was not a great deal of room to manoeuvre but something caught her eye. A flicker of movement in the moss. Come to think of it, she hadn't paid much attention to it up until now but where was that breeze coming from? She stretched out her hand to a small gap in the rock face and felt the cold blast of an airflow. "Bo?"

"Yeah?" Bo peered down into the cavern, shining her torch as best she could on the two figures below.

"Bo, I think I've found something! This looks like a false wall. There's an air flow coming from somewhere. We need to get Dagny out of here and then I need you to come give me a hand...Bo?" Her eyes searched above frantically.

"I'm here hon! Just wait a sec!" She reached up and fired a flare upwards through the canopy of trees, hoping that one of the other two would spot it and grateful when just a few seconds later Dyson and Athdara responded with one of their own. She flattened onto her belly and reached towards the two women in the pit. "Lauren, what do you need me to do?"

"Bo, I'm going to help Dagny upright as much as she can, then Dagny, I need you to lift your arms as high as you can for me, okay? I'm going to give you a boost then Bo? Reach down as far as you can and hook your arms under her armpits and pull as smoothly as you can. You need to be careful though, she probably has some bruising on her back! Ready? One, two, three..."

With a joint effort the three women managed to grapple the teenager out of the pit. Lauren managed to clamber out after her with some assistance from Bo then immediately reached for Dagny's injured limb, bandaging it with care and placing her into a sling.

"I'm going to call Mark and get him to come pick you up." Said Bo, kneeling in front of Dagny and draping her leather jacket across the girl's shoulders.

"No! No way!" Cried Dagny, "I'm totally staying with you guys!"

"No, you're totally not. No arguments kiddo."

"Yes I am! It's _my_ fault he took Kenzi. It's _my_ fault you guys are stuck out here in the first place! I am not leaving you!" Just then something flickered across the teenager's face. Bo and Lauren exchanged concerned glances. It was far too early for Dagny to be coming into her powers, surely? Then again, the only Valkyrie either of them had ever known was Tamsin and she wasn't exactly available to ask. But before they could think too long the crunch of hurried footsteps brought Dyson and Athdara puffing into view.

"You're out of shape Wolf! Too much time pouring drinks at the Dàl!"

"Guys!" Bo snapped. "Dagny found something. We think it's an entrance but there's not much room to dig through." Dyson shone his torch down into the stone chamber and shook of his waistcoat.

"'Dara, give me a hand?" Dyson hit the floor of the small cavern in one leap and immediately set about clearing out the rubble that made up the false wall. Athdara had no idea how long it had taken but the two of them eventually managed to clear enough space to uncover what was actually quite a large tunnel. Silently Dyson waved his hand in an 'all clear' for the others to follow.

"Dagny, are you sure you really want to go in there with us? 'Cause, y'know, once we're in there, we won't be turning back." Bo already knew what the answer would be. The girl had clearly inherited her mother's stubborn streak. Dagny didn't reply other than to give a resolute nod in the two women's direction. Lauren cast a helpless smile at her partner;

"She's your sister alright." Bo grinned and found her feet, shouldering Dagny's bodyweight easily against her own as the three of them eased down to where Dyson and Athdara were already making their first tentative steps into the tunnel. The five of them followed the route, their footsteps resounding coldly on the solid stone floor, their torches concentrated solely on the space directly ahead of them for at least a mile until the tunnel came to a split, heading off into two separate directions.

"Now what do we do?" Asked Bo, her need to take charge of the situation already apparent. "I'm not sure I like the idea of splitting up again. Not down here." Athdara sighed.

"I think we have to Bo. Believe me, I don't like it either." She insisted, raising her hand in supplication at the instant look of objection written across the succubus' features. She turned back and forth, shining her light down each tunnel, both seemed to go on for a fair distance.

"Okay," she agreed reluctantly, "so who goes with who?" The group all looked around at each other. Athdara looked down the tunnel that veered off to the right, staring off into the distance for a moment. She felt around the top of her shoulder and drew a great sword seemingly out of nowhere although the recognisable sound of blade being pulled from sheath could be heard by all;

"I'll go this way, you guys should stick together." She said quietly. A chorus of objections rang out but the loudest was the young Valkyrie's.

"No! No way, you can't just go off on your own. I'll go with you!" Athdara smiled sadly at the girl.

"No little 'un. You need to go look after your sister." She addressed the group as a whole. "Look, whatever this thing is, it's me that has to deal with it. You focus on saving your friend and above all you look after this one" she finished, pointing to Dagny. Bo looked at her half-sibling and nodded.

"She's right Dag." She said trying to pull the girl with her towards the other tunnel but Dagny was digging her heels in.

"No, you can't just let her go alone like that! I won't let you!" Dyson was about to step forward but was surprised when Lauren beat him to it.

"I'll go."

"What?! No way Lauren!" Bo's voice was almost a screech of consternation. "There is no way you are going with her!" Lauren turned to face Bo, blocking off everyone else's view until it was only them.

"Bo, Dagny won't let go until one of us goes with her. Whether you like it or not she's grown attached to Athdara."

"It's your attachment I'm worried about." It came out as a near inaudible mumble but Lauren smiled, placing her hands warmly on the tops of Bo's arms.

"I don't trust her" she whispered as she searched up into Lauren's eyes.

"Listen to me Bo, whatever else has happened between us there is one thing I know with a hundred percent certainty. 'Dara would never let any harm come to me. I need you to trust that. Trust...this..."

Lauren lunged forward and pressed her lips hard against Bo's, her tongue flicking against the succubus's mouth that had opened automatically at the contact. The pair kissed deeply as their hands squeezed at whatever flesh was nearest and then all too quickly it was over. Lauren pulling back with a smug expression of satisfaction;

"I do love you Bo Dennis." She said before stepping backwards in Athdara's direction, her gaze never breaking with Bo's.

"I love you too. No matter what." Then she looked past Lauren's shoulder to the griffin who's eyes were refusing to leave the floor; "hey! Just so you know, if you let _anything_ happen to my girlfriend, I swear, there is not a place in Heaven, Hell or wherever it is you're from that I will not find you!"

Athdara merely chuckled in indignant amusement which she knew would only serve to irritate the succubus further and slung the sword over her shoulder, holding it loosely by the hilt, letting it sway as she sauntered off down the tunnel with Lauren in-tow.

 **Well guys. I had actually intended on carrying on a bit further into the story here but then realised this was turning into a reeeaaallly long chapter so I thought this might be a good place to leave it.**

 **Big thank you to all those who have read, reviewed, followed & favourited.**

 **Take care all**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi all! Well, people do seem to be wanting this story to continue so I'll crack on for now. Thanks to those who have taken the time to review/hit their follow buttons and a special warm welcome to those who have just joined my magical mystery tour :-)**

 **This will be a shorter update, really just giving you what I had intended to carry on with in the last chapter but you'll get a longer post next time.**

 **Onwards!**

 **Oh, one or two moments of strong language by-the-way.**

 **Chapter Nine**

Neither woman dared speak for the first few hundred yards of traipsing through the hot, dusty tunnel but eventually Lauren grew weary of the silence. It was strange because the quiet, cerebral blonde usually preferred her solitude but the tension between the two of them was as thick as the gritty air that choked at the back of her throat.

"How do you know you can stop them?" Athdara halted her pace for a moment, swinging the giant blade from her shoulder, bringing it to a stop before the doctor's inquisitive stare, the great sword glinting steel in the glow from the griffin's torch. Just above the hilt a series of etched characters caught the light. Lauren's Ancient Greek was mediocre at best but she did recognise one name;

"You have the Sword of Damocles?" Her lips gaped in sheer awe of the artefact and tentatively she reached out trembling fingers to caress the cool metal. Athdara nodded, her expression serious but a twinkle of amusement played about her eyes even in the darkness.

"Hades has had this hanging over his head for a long while now. Lauren...it wouldn't matter if I'd never wielded a blade in my existence. The Sword of Damocles never misses its mark. The blade guides the warrior. Whatever you think of me...the second I accepted this mantle I could not fail you, no matter what." Lauren stared down at the ground, shuffling at the pebbles under her feet, grateful that the other woman would not be able to see her face in the gloom.

"Yeah, about that," she began, her voice dry and not entirely due to the debris floating about the cavern either, "are you really going to do this?" She couldn't quite hide the slight crack in her question but thankfully Athdara gracefully ignored it. Now Athdara's gaze fell to the floor and she swallowed hard;

"Lauren I have to. You know the story...you know how this has to end...for the good of everyone. When all is done the balance must be restored."

"But why you? Why now?" Lauren could feel her throat tightening with unwanted emotion and it hit Athdara like a hammer. With her diminished abilities over the last few years she had forgotten what the depths of raw emotion felt like and for a second she was completely overpowered. Then once again the guilt came crashing over her. Apparently Lauren still had much left unresolved within her own heart, perhaps she herself did not realise just how much but Athdara could feel every molecule coring through her own body. ' _Fuck, it hurts!'_ her insides screamed. Just as before, Athdara couldn't bear to lie to this woman who looked at her so earnestly but neither could she quite work out how to tell her the truth, only this time there was nowhere to run.

"Lau-...I..." She scrunched up her eyes and braced herself but somehow the right words just would not come. Eventually she settled on 'A' truth. "I would do anything to protect you" she finished quietly.

Lauren just stood there gaping for a moment. She wanted to wail. She wanted to scream 'bullshit!' at the top of her lungs even knowing that it would bring Bo running from wherever in God's name she was. But then looking into the taller woman's face she couldn't bring herself to do either. Athdara's expression was nothing but honest and...almost like the kind, loving way she used to look at her before yet it was fragmented. Something intrinsic and precious was missing. Years ago Athdara had looked at her with pure joy and endless mischief. Now Lauren only saw sadness and it gave her pause. An old yet familiar something tender surfaced inside of her. Had leaving really hurt Athdara as much as it had Lauren? Suddenly she felt the heat of shame pricking at her cheeks as she realised that she never had given the griffin any chance to explain herself. The memory of that long ago day drifted into her mind and she remembered thinking that Athdara had seemed a little spooked all that afternoon. Somewhere in the hurt and grief of that time the details had become lost. Athdara for her part was aware of the tumult of sensation driving through the other woman's tattered psyche and while latterly she had felt some hope for discussion this was neither the time nor the place. There was a job to be done so with the greatest resolve she forced her senses down, deep into the pit of her stomach where they would have to wait.

"Lauren, I know I have a great deal of explaining to do and that it's the very least you deserve but...this is going to have to wait 'til later, for all our sakes." She began to move off towards the darkness ahead but Lauren grabbed forcefully at her wrist.

"And what if there isn't a 'later' 'Dara?" The griffin smiled at the use of her old nickname and for the first time in many years something warm passed between the women. Then it was gone.

"That's just a chance we have to take but I promise you this; one way or another you will have your answers."

Against her better judgement the doctor found herself believing it.

Bo had not stopped growling under her breath since leaving her girlfriend with that... _woman_! She hadn't even noticed she'd been doing it until she heard her half-sister giggle from her place beside her.

"What's up with you Squirt?" She half turned, peering at Dagny.

"You're jea-lous!" Her sister singed at her. Bo sensed more than saw the smirk that edged its way over Dyson's mouth and she gave the wolf a sharp dig in the ribs with her elbow for his troubles.

"Am not!" Bo squeaked in outrage.

"Are too!" Dagny's arm bounced around in its sling as the teenager skipped about, paying little heed to the uneven surface beneath her feet. This was getting silly but before Bo had the chance to conjure up a more adult comeback an uncertain cry floated through the echoing vault surrounding the trio.

"Bo!" The strained cry came louder this time. "Bo, where are you? Are you even there?" The wail turning distinctly plaintive. Bo raised her flattened palm somewhat pointlessly in the darkness.

"Shh guys, do you hear that?" The voice was a touch more mature but still achingly recognisable. "Kenzi!" Bo cried, "Kenzi, we hear you!"

"Bo!"

The sound bounced around the chamber but as the succubus made to run towards where she thought the shouts were coming from Dyson thrust out an arm across her body.

"Bo, you know this could be a trap."

"Dyson, what I know is that Kenzi is down here and I'm gonna find her!" She unceremoniously shucked away the wolf's arm and made a cautious dash forwards, constantly calling to Kenzi, checking her direction.

The tunnel opened up into a large arena-shaped cavity lit along the tool-cut stone walls by lanterns that burned hot and high yet Bo was still unable to make out any discernible ceiling above. A stone walkway trailed along the upper walls of the cavern but Bo's eyes were fixed on a tiny pathetic figure curled up on the centre of the dirt floor. She had only seconds to take in her friend's appearance but she could see her long dark hair was lank and matted in places, her pale face smeared with filth and her once immaculate clothing frayed and grubby. The succubus's impulses got the better of her, she pelted towards the little Russian, ignoring the shouts of protest following from behind. Even Kenzi screamed at her as best as she could in her weakened state, holding up her hands wildly trying to stop Bo in her tracks but it was too late and the second the succubus dropped to her knees in front of her she found herself rapidly surrounded in a violent ring of flame.

A huge skin-headed figure with a variety of tattoos emblazoned across his bare scalp stepped deceptively lightly out from the shadows. A serpent-like tongue slithered back into his mouth but Bo's eyes were torn away from this beast of a man by a horribly familiar voice on her other side.

"Ahh, my two girls together at last!" If it was possible Hades, Lord of the Underworld sounded even more twisted than Bo remembered. "I should thank you for joining me in this little family reunion ladies!" he said, clapping his hands in a sickly glee.

Dagny fixated on the 'man' that had fathered her. Dyson tried to nudge the girl behind him but the plucky teenager was having none of it.

"You're not my dad you bastard!"

Jack grinned wolfishly, his gaze lighting on his ' _prize_ ' and he seemed to glide towards her on air, stretching out a hand.

"Dagny!" Came a screech and the girl looked frantically to Bo but the voice had come from above. All eyes centred on two figures that had emerged on the upper walkway looking down on the impending drama below.

"Bo! You never told me the good doctor was here, how wonderful of her to join us!" Hades exclaimed. His wide grin had turned almost maniacal as he spoke, delighted with this latest turn of events. He had expected Lauren to have appeared at some stage but to have announced her presence so carelessly, well... _tut tut tut_. He would enjoy making her watch those she loved suffer. He had been too busy in his own inner musings, however, to pay much attention to the other figure that had emerged alongside the blonde.

Out of nowhere Athdara leapt from the ledge with wings spread wide to crash heavily into the dragon shifter, knocking him to the ground. It was all the distraction Dyson needed to begin slashing wildly at Hades with wickedly sharp claws, needing only to keep him occupied just long enough for Dagny to find cover. On the other side of the cavern Lauren brought out an old, near-forgotten skill and climbed unobtrusively down the rock face. She had to reach Bo and Kenzi.

On the other side of the blaze Athdara and the dragon exchanged blows, matching each other strike for strike. She would not reach for the sword that had been returned to the sheath across her back. The next strike of that blade was meant for Hades alone. Across from her she could see Dyson beginning to struggle but she couldn't get to him. At least Dagny had found shelter in a small crevasse. Why hadn't Bo tried to get Kenzi out? Then she gaped in horror as she saw Lauren desperately trying to find a gap through the fire. She instantly realised her mistake when the dragon followed her eyes. In a single unguarded moment he knocked her on her backside and turned on the two women frantically trying to scramble the injured Kenzi to safety. This was all going terribly wrong. To her right Dyson was flung hard into the wall by a well-timed swipe rendering him unconscious. To her left the dragon burst forth another blast molten fury, forcing Lauren back behind another burning barrier. Heavy smoke filled the air burning lungs and singeing skin. A joint shrill scream sounded from the two separated lovers even above the racket of the fire. The griffin inside her roared and she fought the urge to shift into her zoomorphic state but she needed more limbs. It galled her to bare her animal to this opponent who held no honour but suddenly her stature grew by several feet, her leather-booted calves turned to eagle-like legs that sported razor-like talons at the tips while her arms bulged out into massive paws and her chest expanded into the thick muscle of a lion's torso. Lauren stared transfixed as the face she had once loved morphed into that of proud lioness. Though she had been privileged enough to study the world of the griffin in a way that few ever had she had never seen Athdara in her animal form. Despite the situation, the scientist within her still marvelled that somehow the very same armour that had fitted 'human' 'Dara so well somehow also managed to fit the much larger griffin. She really had seen so much over the years, things that most humans would never even dream of so it was rare that anything actually surprised Lauren anymore but very, very occasionally something truly magical would appear before her.

Then the griffin was bounding over the first wall of fire in one long jump, hovering in mid-air above Bo and Kenzi before grabbing them both tightly by her own claws and hoisting them up and over towards the tunnel entrance. Dyson who had come-to limped his way over, hearing Bo yelling Lauren's name. Gently, he rested a hand on the succubus' shoulder, assuring her that Athdara would bring her back but the Lord of the Underworld was far from done in taking his pleasure. Satisfied that his pet would take care of the good doctor and that pesky creature he rounded on the trio.

"Where the _hell_ is Dagny?" Bo muttered through gritted teeth.

"Out of sight." Dyson grimaced, acutely beginning to feel his bout with Hades, a few broken ribs making themselves known. But Bo herself was far from done either. In fact, she had not even begun. She regained her feet, tall and straight-backed with a grace that she was far from feeling. This man, this _thing_ had killed her family and a dear friend. Now he came before her determined to take the same child he had created the day he had sentenced Tamsin to her fate. Not only that but his very presence threatened all that she stood for as fae...as a _human_. This self-righteous bastard would die and whatever the griffin's good intentions she would do it herself. As both cold hard resolve and white hot ire merged inside of her, Bo's irises turned first blue then swirled to a midnight's black. The belief that she had left this part of herself behind now lying in ruins about her feet only added to her anger as she allowed the darkness to take over. She drew power from the Earth itself and the ground began to shake. Bolts of electricity that grew larger with every passing second shot from her spread fingers and despite her impending oblivion she somehow managed to direct this crackling energy towards her father who looked almost as dumbstruck as Dyson and Kenzi who watched on in awe. The force shot Hades back to crash through the flames all the way into the far wall. Bo breathed heavily with satisfaction until the rock began to collapse around them.

Athdara looked up from the floor where she had been battling the dragon from inside the inferno to find a giant chunk of ceiling hurtling towards her and the two immediately broke apart. She had to get to Lauren who was now rapidly becoming trapped by the cave in. She could hear yelling in the distance but she knew she'd never get the doctor past both the rock fall and the dragon then through the flames to the others. The dragon chased her as she dodged and dived around the falling stone, the very ground quaking underfoot. She was running out of time. In mid-run she slipped back into human form in order to fit through the narrowing gap, a variety of injuries now visible to the naked eye. All the while Hades' pet swiping at her before she took a vault over the burning curtain, getting to Lauren just as the gap started to close. She grabbed Lauren tightly in her arms, the woman was shaking though Athdara knew that that the woman's fear was not for herself but for those she loved stuck on the other side of the cavern. The griffin turned her head just in time to catch dragon boy being crushed by a large bank of masonry. She felt Lauren's palms flat on her chest and she looked down into the woman's searching features.

"'Dara, how do we get out of here?" Athdara grimaced;

"Lauren, remember I promised you that I would protect you no matter what?" The blonde nodded. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes..." And somehow her whispered reply was still audible over the crashing mayhem beyond their little bubble. "Yes, I do trust you."

"Good. Keep your hands exactly where they are and keep your head tucked under mine, okay?" At Lauren's agreement Athdara scrunched up her eyes in concentration, summoning the strength of the ages she lifted them off the ground by a few inches at first before suddenly accelerating up through the layers of bedrock. Muscles burned, blood ran and feathers tore. The pain was unfathomable until the griffin was almost passing out but incredibly she managed to force them up through the ground and out into the night air. She was rapidly losing consciousness even as she spread out her wings wide and flew. The only thought left in her mind; she would fly and keeping flying until Lauren was safe. _Lauren safe, Lauren safe, LaurensafeLaurensafeLaurensafeLaurensafe..._

Some indeterminate time later a clawed hand broke through a layer of dirt, the relief of a brisk wind giving the owner renewed energy to clamber up through the remaining earth. They emerged a mere few feet from where their evening's ordeal had started out. Dyson pulled himself up and out of the man-sized hole he had created before reaching back in for Kenzi who was given a helpful boost by Bo. Bo was ready to give Dagny a leg up but when she turned around the teenager was gone.

"Dagny? Dagny!" She called, panic mode beginning to set in turning to horror when she realised abruptly that the tunnel behind them had been sealed without any of them noticing. "Dyson, where's Dagny?" She demanded through the shaft above her head.

"I thought she was just behind you!" He shouted back, leaning over the hole on his hands and knees.

"She was but...but..." She trotted back to the compacted rubble and slapped her hands against the jagged surface. "Dagny! Dag, can you hear me?!" Nothing. No sound was forthcoming at all. "Dys, help me up!" She said, raising her hands. The shifter hoisted her up onto the forest turf. It was pitch black now but each of them strained to see any kind of movement anywhere. "Where's Lauren? Did anyone see where she went?" Her heart thumped in her chest, hoping against all hope that her world was not about to come crashing down about her due to her own efforts to stop that very thing from happening. When the cave in had begun Kenzi had somehow managed to jolt her out of her trance-like state and yanked her out of there in time. There again, why was she surprised? The girl had always had the knack of being able to reach her in a way no one else could. Right now though, she would give anything for that blissful ignorance again.

"Bo, it's okay, I say Lauren get trapped behind a collapse but Athdara got to her. She'll be okay."

"Then where the fuck is she Dyson, huh?" She scream, slamming her fists against the solid bulk of his chest. " _Where the fuck is she?!"_

 **Thanks again for sticking with me guys. This was actually quite a hard one to grind out as I don't often write action scenes so feel free to let me know if it wasn't okay.**

 **Meantime, take care all**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi all,**

 **Wow, thank you so much for all of your kind words. I've taken a bit longer on this chapter because, for me, this part really is the crux of the whole story although you can judge for yourselves. Anyway, I wanted to get it right.**

 **Okay, 'nuff said...enjoy! (Wee profanity warning in effect again.)**

 **Chapter Ten**

Three hours later and Bo was about to wear a hole in the already thinning rug that covered the flooring in front of the fireplace in what had formerly been Trick's lair. Fretfully she rubbed at her forehead.

"Bo..." Came Dyson's soothing tenor.

"Dyson, I _know_ you know where they've gone,why won't you just tell me?!" She roared, flailing her arms out either side of her.

"Bo, D-Man doesn't know!" Kenzi piped up from where she had been resting on the threadbare old couch. She eased herself shakily to her feet and wobbled over to the stricken succubus, dipping her head to catch the older woman's eyes. "Look, you know that if I had any hints that Wolfie here was lying I would personally help you beat his ass but I really don't think he knows anything honey" she implored, running her haphazardly bandaged hands up and down Bo's upper arms. Bo's behaviour since the caves had been more than a little erratic, her eyes swirling from their normal warm chocolate to icy blue to deep midnight. Once again the threat of her entire world collapsing loomed over the succubus' head and once again her most loyal friend was the only one keeping her from buckling under the pressure completely.

"It's true Bo," said Dyson, "When Athdara first came on the scene all those years ago Lauren and I didn't talk. I mean, it was well known at the time around the compound that something was going on between the two of them but I didn't really want to know."

A moment passed where no one spoke then the wolf turned to the younger woman. "Kenzi, can you give us a minute?"

"No way am I going anywhere buddy" she replied, folding her arms and jutting her jaw out defiantly. Dyson stuck out a thumb in the direction of the stairs leading up to the bar.

"Help yourself, good stuff's unlocked."

"I'll be back in...like...five..." The woman squeaked, backing her way quickly out of the den. Dyson couldn't help but smirk. It was comforting to know that at least some things never changed. He sunk down onto the arm of the sofa, brushing his palms over her thighs and took steadying breaths. This one was going to hurt.

"I'm losing her Dyson." Alright, safe to say that wasn't _quite_ what he was expecting.

"What? Are you serious?"

"It's true Dys. Ever since this woman came back on the scene...she's been different."

"Bo, how many times in how many ways do you want Lauren to prove she's yours?" Bo's head snapped up and Dyson could see the fury simmering under the succubus' glare but he would not be deterred. "The Doc has a past and you don't like it."

"How can you say that? I totally helped her with the Nadia thing!"

"Yes but with Nadia you had the control. You gave up your shot with Lauren then of your own free will because you wanted to see her happy. Because you loved her enough to try and let her go."

"So are you saying I need to let her go now? That all of a sudden the real love of her life has showed up and now I need to just step aside?" The wolf braced himself, matching the bite in Bo's tone with one of his own;

"Bo, Athdara isn't trying to steal anything away from you! 'Dara's on a one-way ticket here, she knows that...and Lauren does too. You have no idea what that woman gave up just so Lauren would be safe!" He paced forward into the succubus' space, gripping her arms tightly in an effort to make her listen.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Athdara knew...that once she got here there was only one way she'd be leaving. Lauren's only confused because her and 'Dara never got to really finish. They never had the chance to say goodbye. Bo, a blind man could see how happy the two of you make each other...everyone but you." He wrenched his hands away and turned his back to bathe his face in the streetlight flooding in from the street-level grate high up in the cornice. When Bo finally spoke Dyson could feel the strain in every word;

"I never thought...I never believed she really wanted to be with me." The wolf nodded.

"I know Bo. That's why I've watched her for so many years constantly trying to prove it. Prove that she was worthy of the love you gave her. The woman's been through hell. She's faced the reality that she can never bear your children. The pain of knowing that unlike another human lover she will not be the last love in your life. Yet here she is," he turned to face her again, "with you." Finally the fog seemed to clear from Bo's irises while a single tear trailed her cheek. "Lauren will never leave you Bo," he whispered, once again stepping closer, "not until her last dying breath. You need to start believing that for both your sakes. You also need to stop giving our friend such a hard time. She's here to help _you_ Bo but part of the bargain is that her and Lauren get the goodbye that was stolen from them. Wherever they've gone, they'll be safe. That much I can promise you." Bo nodded her agreement albeit a touch reservedly.

"I think that's what scared me" she said but Dyson disagreed.

"No Bo. You think you've failed Lauren. For the very same reasons that Lauren feels she's failed you." Something inside the succubus broke and she let herself fall forward into Dyson's supporting hold. After several moments she chuckled;

"When did you get so insightful?" She felt the wolf's cheek crease into a grin and she pulled back. "Dyson what did you mean when you said Athdara was on a one-way ticket? Clearly I've missed the scoop on something."

Athdara was barely conscious when she brought them in to land on a tiny island somewhere in the North Atlantic, just about managing to deposit Lauren on the cool sand before staggering towards a shallow cove a few feet ahead. Despite the situation Lauren's inner scientist couldn't help but marvel yet again and this wondrous creature who still somehow managed to operate on some kind of physical instinct to reach safety even after her higher functions had been severely impaired.

The griffin collapsed onto the gravelly floor of the cave and was already out cold by the time the doctor reached her. Bruises and open wounds marred her flesh from the severe beating she had taken both from the dragon and their subsequent trip through several layers of bedrock. Lauren the Doctor dropped to her knees, delicately probing at the extensive damage, the other woman's torso bare but for a black sports bra. The griffin's injuries were too numerous to contemplate and the thought made Lauren the Woman feel sick. She leaned forward to hover over the prone woman's face, taking every detail in, noting the changes that had taken place over the years. She didn't think it possible for griffins to age but something had definitely altered in the Athdara's features. She began shaking the woman's shoulders, shouting loudly in her ear in a desperate attempt to rouse her but nothing was working. She hoped and prayed to any god or goddess listening that Athdara's own healing abilities would kickstart soon. In the meantime she sat back on her heels.

A few anxious minutes past while Lauren's mind worked overtime on driving herself to a frenzy before abruptly reaching back a hand and walloping Athdara across the jaw with a loud smack.

"You bitch!" She cried, "you utter fucking bitch!" Hot tears of anger streamed blindingly from her eyes as she leaned forward onto her hands and knees once more but she really couldn't care less. "You left me. You. _Left_. Me! And now...just when I get you alone you just fucking lie there!" The tiny voice of logic in the back of her mind squeaked at her actions which made no sense. She had no idea what had come over her. Well...actually she did. The better part of twenty years bitter regret was what had come over her and now the object of her ire lay motionless before her, unable to answer her even if she wanted to. _Why the fuck did 'Dara always have to be so_ _ **fucking good?!**_

She reached out and smacked her again, harder this time but her arm was was already beginning to tire so she switched sides and smacked Athdara's other cheek. Then she balled up her fists and started battering at the griffin's chest, stoically doing her best to ignore the pain now ricocheting through her own limbs. All the while her frustrations leaked out in a series of barely coherent profanities and heart-wrenching sobs. Eventually she exhausted herself and flopped onto the other woman's body, her breathing coming in heavy gulps.

Her thoughts drifted back over the evening, wondering where things had gone so badly wrong. One minute she had felt so assured. But then that had always been Athdara's gift hadn't it? To make someone think that everything was going to be alright even when one had lost all hope of carrying on. She thought of their conversation before everything had gone to hell in a hand-basket. Had she truly foolishly allowed herself to be sucked in once again by Athdara's promises that everything would turn out just fine only for the griffin to once again let her down? But she was too tired to respond to the fire that surged within her belly. Her eyelids sagged but as her mind started to go blank the memory of her own thoughts during that conversation came into focus which then led her to remember the last time they had been together. There was something significant about those final few moments spent in each other's company but she couldn't quite put her finger on what. She wanted to give in to sleep but for some reason this...thing, whatever it was just wouldn't rest. She fought hard to pin down the images. Athdara had _done_ something to her...

She had no idea what she was doing, it was like an instinct that was not her own had taken control of her actions. With almost no conscious thought she raised herself up onto her elbows and ever so gently parted Athdara's lips before pressing her own mouth onto the griffin's. Then she pushed. Some substance began to flow from her mouth and into the other woman's. Whatever it was seemed to bubble up for her stomach in a great wave of nervous excitement. It felt far from unpleasant but it was still a decidedly odd sensation. As she pushed harder however, memories that were not her own but many she recognised began to flood through her mind. Happy visions of the two of them together, the first time they made love and the hours they spent brazenly walking the compounds generous grounds while the griffin indulged Lauren's endless curiosity. A strange picture of the griffin slashing at the barely-healed wound on her wing that Lauren herself recalled treating. Then the images became darker. She remembered now Athdara doing exactly this type of energy pulse to her the last time she saw her. She remembered the feeling of love that had crashed through her which at the time had only made the griffin's subsequent disappearance all the harder to bear but now she knew what Athdara had done, what she had sacrificed. She knew everything.

More ghosts flashed behind her eyes; a once noble and proud creature now forced to her knees in front of a council of elders, the griffin pleading for her lover's life. Then one man nods and the image pans to another wielding a giant sword just like Athdara's. The blade swings and 'Dara's wings are savagely hacked from her back leaving only brief stumps. Lauren fought the urge to heave once more as the blood-spattered wings are hoisted up before her then placed in a glass cabinet beside the council's platform just as the finely articulated armour is unceremoniously ripped from her body by a series of giant hands. Then another flash forward. This time a woman sits on the edge of a bed in a dank, dark hotel room, compelled to snap her own bones back into place after yet another fight. This woman is little more than a mercenary in grungy clothing, sent to trouble spots around the world with no support and made to battle on for the sake of humanity. This woman is hardly recognisable with no love left in her soul and only bitter resentment for her own pitiful existence.

Lauren shot backwards in shock as the last of whatever substance that was left her body. In front of her the griffin's eyelids flickered and she began to cough. The doctor scrabbled forwards in the dirt, running her fingers over Athdara's body.

"Come on honey, it's okay. Wake up for me?" But instead of answering the griffin sat bolt upright and in spite of the pain she hobbled out the cave to where gentle waves lapped at the pebbled shoreline. She didn't have the energy to go far by any means but she desperately needed air. Bemused, Lauren followed but stopped short when the griffin called out hoarsely over her shoulder;

"You shouldn't have done that Lauren...you could have killed yourself!"

"And what was I supposed to do 'Dara? Huh? What, let you die? D'you know what, at least I know everything now" she called back, "Would you rather I hated you for the rest of my life? Is that it?"

"I _know_ Lauren!" The blonde's eyes widened in horror as Athdara stumbled, clutching at her midsection. "I know."

"How?" The griffin let out a sickening chuckle.

"When the transference is performed by someone untrained like that they don't yet have the control to focus their minds." She turned back to face the other woman. "The memory switch works in reverse too Lauren." At that, the griffin lost her balance, landing flat onto a nearby boulder and howled, her fingers digging into the rock until actual flakes of the stuff began to dislodge and peel away. Lauren felt her own resolve crumble and eased herself down to lay on Athdara's back offering whatever comfort she could in their shared grief.

The two of them steadily grew silent, the griffin's gaze empty in a thousand mile stare. Slowly the doctor lowered herself to the sand then heaved Athdara's much heavier body down with her as best she could to lean against the boulder. Tucking her jacket into a ball she placed it under 'Dara's head before wading out into the sea, tearing a strip off of her dusty tank and dipped it into the ice-cold salt water. Wadding up the rag in her fingers she returned to Athdara's side and slowly began to cleanse away the dried blood and grime from her face and torso, noting also the myriad of scars and other marks that by rights should have healed and disappeared long ago. Her concern only continued to grow the longer Athdara remained unresponsive to her touch.

"I was only ten weeks along," she said, pausing to dip the cloth back into the water, wringing out the excess before continuing, "I'd barely started to show. I knew I couldn't keep it a secret forever but...I was so scared 'Dara." She finished in a whisper, one of Athdara's blackened hands held lightly between her own. She smiled sadly in that very Lauren way; "I know it's silly but I already felt like it was a girl-"

"-It's my fault." Athdara swallowed hard and she had trouble meeting the doctor's gaze.

"What do you mean 'it's your fault'" She asked, stroking her thumb across the griffin's cheek, "you couldn't have known honey, nobody did."

"The elders wanted you for something...I didn't know what but I dreaded to think. I begged them to let you go, they could do what they wanted with me, I didn't care. In that moment I gave them the leeway they needed. They must've took the child from you. Lauren you have to believe me, if I'd known anything...if I'd thought for one second that this would've happened I'd never-"

"Shh, darling, it's alright." Lauren cradled the griffin's head to her chest and rocked her as best she could, placing a kiss on her crown. "Honey, I know, I _know_ you would have moved Heaven and Earth for our little girl. The elders probably knew that too. That's why they kept us apart for so long. They were afraid of what you would do if you ever found out."

"I will find her Lauren. One way or another." The doctor kept her silence, uncertain as to whether such a thing was even possible but more than willing to let it go for the time being.

"That was your love you gave me that night wasn't it?" She asked contemplatively, really more just theorising aloud. Athdara smiled genuinely this time;

"Did you never wonder how you managed to outwork so many of your fae colleagues? How you could push yourself well beyond the human limits of fatigue? In fact, I'll wager you've never taken a sick day in twenty years!" She said, glancing up at the blonde who stared thoughtfully. It was true. In fact, Bo had even found cause to comment on it once or twice in the past. Athdara quirked a brow knowingly. "It was one of my many crimes. Remember I told you that griffins do not offer their love to only one being but rather use the love they are created by for the good of the world?" Lauren nodded.

"What else did do you? In those visions I saw you tearing apart that wound on your wing..." She left the question hanging in the air. Athdara made a sound of resignation.

"I just wanted more time," she replied, emotion causing the words to become brittle in the throat, "I stayed with you far longer than I had any leave to. I knew the elders would get suspicious eventually and send someone looking for me but I was trying to hold them off for as long as I could. Like an idiot I wanted to believe I could outrun them somehow." She paused for a breather. "That night I left..." She trailed off.

"It's okay."

"No, it's not Lauren. I should have found another way but...I was a coward. They'd sent Cathal after me, an old comrade of mine from the day we were first created. Anyway, I knew the game was up. I had planned on telling you everything, really. But when it came down to it, I just couldn't. So I gave you the last thing I could. I gave you my love because I trusted you to keep it safe and if I gave it to you willingly then it was the one thing they couldn't take from me. Needless to say they were even more furious when they found out that little gem. I think up until then they'd hoped that I might have still come to my senses and rejoined the fold."

"Oh 'Dara," Lauren sighed, kissing the griffin's forehead and hugging her tighter to her shoulder, "I was so devastated when you left without even saying goodbye." Athdara just nodded and for a little while no more words needed to be said. Eventually she cleared her throat though;

"Laur?" Lauren had almost fallen asleep jerked awake again.

"Hmm?"

"I'm glad. I'm glad I got to love you like this one last time."

"Please don't say things like that."

"You know what has to happen Lauren. Hades isn't dead."

"How can you be so sure? Bo whacked him with a pretty hefty force."

"Because I'm still here," she swallowed, "and the sword hasn't found its mark. I'd pit Bo up against that man any day of the week but this is different. Whatever she may think, this isn't Bo's fight. Give me a couple of hours and I'll fly you back to Toronto." She said, lifting herself up before Lauren placed a firm hand on her chest, pushing her back down to rest."

"Tomorrow." She replied in a tone that brokered no argument. She glanced around at their surroundings, suddenly finding a familiarity in the place that she hadn't noticed earlier. "You brought me here before." She stated in a voice full of wonder.

"Mm hmm, remember when we sneaked away that night?" Lauren looked over at the cove slightly slack-jawed and giggled.

"We were happy once weren't we?" She asked quietly, looking at Athdara with open vulnerability.

"Yes we were. Very." The griffin spread out an arm and encouraged the doctor to come and rest on her shoulder. As they lay there in peaceful content Lauren began to think back over the many good times they had shared. Then she flushed as one particular memory flooded her overly generous brain.

"You know, in the years afterward, I used to wish that I could've had it all back just for one day. One night really. Our first time. I wished I could've had that back one more time." Athdara gave Lauren's shoulder a squeeze.

"Do you remember it as well as you'd like?"

"I remember most of it but some of it's a bit blurry. I remember the feelings more than anything else."

Carefully Athdara eased herself to her feet. Her strength had slowly begun to return to her but she was still unsteady. She bent down and picked the blonde up into her arms and carried her over to the mouth of the cove. After arranging the other woman as comfortably as she could she strayed a little further along the adjacent bluff and gathered enough kindling for a fire. Once a small blaze had sparked to life she lay next to Lauren and slipped a wing under the smaller woman's frame, cradling her in the soft downy inner feathers. She kept the other wing curved over them both, reflecting the warmth of the hearth into their cosy little cocoon. Eventually Athdara stroked a finger across Lauren's forehead;

"Do you want to remember?" There was no point in being coy. They had been through too much together this night and finally shared their vulnerabilities so openly that the doctor figured that the least the griffin deserved was her honesty.

"Yes."

No more words were said that evening as Athdara placed her temple next to Lauren's, entwining the fingers of one of her hands with that of the doctor and for a few precious hours they were lost to the past.

 _It was a precious evening of good food, a shared passion for knowledge and above all the rarity of laughter. It had been a week since Athdara and Dyson had come the worse off in a confrontation with a very nasty subspecies of giant. The Ash had insisted that their honoured guest receive only the best treatment but the obstinate griffin had refused to spend the remainder of her stay stuck in a hospital so a compromise had been reached where Athdara would remain under the direct supervision of the chief medical officer. Lauren did not mind one bit. Admittedly the thought had crossed her mind that the griffin's wounds seemed to be taking an inordinately long time to heal but neither was she of a mood to question it much._

 _This evening was one of celebration though, a housewarming in fact. Athdara had once again used her considerable clout with the Ash and determined that if she were to be expected to stay with the doctor then the doctor's living conditions would have to be vastly improved. All of a sudden a secure apartment was miraculously found to be available in the very heart of Light territory, a fact which both ladies found rather intriguing. Lauren only hoped that it wouldn't be taken away from her once Athdara had gone although that was something else she had no desire to dwell on for too long._

 _She grinned as they clinked glasses once again. The two of them had sat comfortably on a pile of cushions in front of the sofa for hours, sparkling bubbles encased in elegant champagne flutes reflected the flickering glow of an array of candles that had been set out around the room. The women had grown impossibly close over the previous week and Lauren felt more than ready to give herself over to the mysterious dark-haired beauty but fear held her back. Fear of rejection. She had no idea if Athdara felt the same or even if she did would be able to act on it? Fear that Athdara would think she only wanted her out of loneliness or gratitude or some sense of obligation. Fear that Athdara really did want her._

 _The griffin reached across and placed her glass on the coffee table then turned her body side-on towards Lauren, drawing herself nearer to the blonde as she stretched her long legs out just in front of Lauren's. The blonde smiled shyly out the corner of her eye and she blushed an interesting shade of pink at their sudden proximity to one another._

 _Tentatively she shifted her free hand over to Athdara's, allowing the other woman to grasp her fingers tightly within hers. The griffin seemed fascinated at the contact and an oddly comfortable silence came over the pair as Athdara played with her new gift, her expression alight with curiosity. Lauren sat patiently while her companion traced her fingertips up and over her own then down to the back of her palm, spreading their hands wide and seeing just how they fit together, appreciating the contrast of her creamy skin next to the sallower tones of Athdara's._

 _"Lauren, I should probably tell you..."_

 _"What honey? You can tell me anything 'Dara." She added at Athdara's reluctance to continue._

 _"I've never...ummm..." She trailed off, glancing down between their reclined bodies._

 _"Really?" It was no use. Lauren just couldn't quite hide her surprise at the griffin's quiet admission. You mean in all these thousands of years you've never...never...?" Now she was nodding up and down euphemistically. Maybe it was catching? Athdara shook her head._

 _"No griffin has. Earth-dwelling Gryphons mate to reproduce but never a Celestial. No one knows what would happen if we did." As much passion as the doctor felt for this beautiful creature beside her she also couldn't deny that the scientist within Lauren had suddenly sprung to life as well at the idea of going where no human had gone before._

 _"What if I said I was willing to take the chance?"_

 _An eternity came and went while the question hung in the air. Then an unusually shy grin crossed the griffin's features;_

 _"You're gonna have to show me..."_

 _Lauren immediately closed the narrow gap between them and brought her hand to rest on the back of 'Dara's neck. With just the lightest of pressure she brushed her lips over those of her lovers. Absurdly they sprung apart a few centimetres then giggled at themselves and when nothing terrible befell them they did it again. This time Athdara leaned more into the kiss, even capturing one of Lauren's lips between her own offering a gentle suction. They continued exchanging kisses like that for a while, gradually allowing the heat to build between them until hands roamed freely over clothing and the passing of their lips became less tender than passionate. Eventually Lauren broke away, not wanting their first time to end up a hurried encounter on the living room floor. She wanted to make love to this precious woman, in their new bed in an apartment that fantasy told her could be their home. She lifted herself to her feet and reached her hand out for Athdara to take, leading them quietly up the stairs to bed._

 _The bedroom itself was in darkness but for a sliver of moonlight that crept in through the open French doors to the private balcony Lauren had been afforded with this place. Nervous fingers shook as they slowly, deliberately undressed each other. Beneath the layers of clothing Lauren could just make out a silvery haze obscuring her view of Athdara's body. Then it solidified and she could see the griffin's intricately carved armour glinting in the pale light. Lauren briefly stopped to wonder if somehow the armour existed out of phase with this realm and that was how griffins were able to walk around as though the heavy metal was nothing but air yet still be able to call upon it when needed. Athdara paused then stepped closer, bringing Lauren's hand up the the corner of her breastplate, wrapping the blonde's fingers around the fastening._

 _"Take it off Lauren. Please." The doctor looked uncertain._

 _"Are you sure? I don't know..." She trailed off, staring up into eyes that seemed to swirl with a myriad of emotion. Athdara didn't answer but proceeded to show Lauren how to undo each and every tie, bolt and lace, slowly stripping away everything that she had been for the last three thousand years._

 _A fresh breeze floated in from outside, causing the voile panels to billow and their skin to prickle. Finally stood before one another naked and open. Lauren was the first to step forward, taking Athdara into her arms and beginning a commanding exploration of the other woman's body._

 _She immediately brought her hands to the twin spurs on either side of 'Dara's spine and gripped them between her fingers, quickly discovering that these were a very sensitive spot at the groan coming from where the griffin had rest her head on her shoulder. She grasped them again, harder this time and thrilled as Athdara's body writhed under her touch, the other woman's arms tightening around her waist. She began to rub her fingers up and down the two long wing shafts simultaneously before moving down to probe at the woman's back muscles. Her scientist fascinated at the way the griffin's physique was altered to accommodate her massive wingspan. This was the beauty and the wonder of being with Athdara; everything was a discovery and here in this peaceful space they explored each other freely with no barriers. She would have been ashamed to admit that the thought that here she was, taking the lead with this powerful creature was a source of guilty pleasure. But before she had even finished the thought Athdara had already sensed it;_

 _"It's alright Laur, I trust you."_

 _"You're reading me again." She replied but Athdara could hear the humour behind the words._

 _"No," she said, "I'm feeling you." And she reached to squeeze the doctor's firm behind just to prove it. Lauren laughed and led them steadily backwards to the bed and it suddenly hit home what Athdara was giving her. It gave her a confidence boost yes but it was a powerful knowledge, one that she would make sure only strengthened the connection between them. In that moment she fell in love with Athdara all over again._

The next time Lauren opened her eyes an early pre-dawn pink was starting to streak across the sky.

"Thank you," said Lauren in a quiet voice, unwilling to break their private spell just yet, "you know I love Bo but...I'm glad we shared this time together." She touched her fingers to Athdara's breastbone. "This was ours. These memories belong to us and they always will. Many years ago you made me promises and I cursed you. I cursed your name because I was convinced that you had broken them. It's only now that I realise you kept each and every single one of them a thousand times over. Now I promise you that no matter what happens tomorrow I will hold safe these memories in my heart until the end the last breath leaves my body. I will always remember that there was once a woman I loved very much who gave up everything she was for me."

"She's a good woman, Bo. A warrior." Athdara said and Lauren smiled at the compliment.

"Yes she is. She's stubborn and hard-headed. Sometimes she speaks without thinking. But she takes good care of me."

"Good. That's all I want for you Lauren. All I've ever really wanted. Rest now, love."

Lauren awoke the next morning to the crackling of the fire, rekindled at some point by Athdara who currently sat turning a spit on which something that looked and smelled like chicken sizzled deliciously making her stomach rumble in anticipation.

"That looks good!" She said, sliding up onto her haunches. Athdara grinned over her shoulder.

"Dyson's not the only hunter in the family." Lauren edged closer to the fire, warming her hands and rubbing them together. The sun had risen but it would be a while before the full heat of day scorched the sandy beach.

They shared a congenial meal together before mutually deciding that it was time to head back to normality. Athdara had mostly recovered from her injuries, enough to fly them home anyway and together they had finally reached a sort of peace with each other. As they stood on the shoreline ready to leave however, Lauren looked up with a quizzical expression;

"Think you have any idea where to find Hades?" Athdara grimaced.

"Oh yes. I believe I know where he's hiding now. I had a long time to think after you fell asleep this morning. We'll find him."

"Dara? I lied before. When I said I loved you very much?" The griffin's heart sank but the doctor placed a soft finger under chin, "I do still love you. I don't think I ever really stopped. I know it doesn't make any difference now but I couldn't let you go through today without telling you. I love you Athdara. Maybe now it's a different kind of love and it's very different to what I share with Bo but it's real. I feel it. You saw me when no one else gave a damn and you offered me hope." Athdara lifted Lauren into the air and stepped out into the sea, ready to leave this sacred place behind.

"No Laur, it makes the world of difference."

 **Well folks, there you go. Too sappy? This definitely isn't a fluffy instalment but I'm hoping I managed to stay just on the right side of bittersweet romance to not be too saccharine. I had originally intended to go a bit further with the Lauren/Athdara love scene but the bottom line is this is, at the end of the day, a Doccubus fic and I wasn't too sure how readers would feel if I went too in-depth. I think it says enough as it is that you get the point. Anyway, I hope this chapter has done what it was supposed to and filled in the blanks.**

 **Take care until next time!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Ohhhhh, good evening all and can I just say 'wow'! So grateful for all of your wonderfully written reviews, you've really made it absolutely worth writing all this drivel! Also, before I begin, thanks to the guest who mentioned the spacing error. Believe it or not I have actually been putting in line breaks but I didn't realise until to told me that for some reason they are not appearing on the published document. I had been using a line of asterisks* to change POV but apparently document manager doesn't like that so if anyone has any suggestions I'm all ears...or...eyes, anyway! So as a wee thanks to all of you keeping up with me and leaving your lovely feedback/follows/favourites this chapter has a little treat for you.**

 **Chapter Eleven**

Bo sat slumped over the bar staring into space. She had stopped thinking some time ago, her little chat with Dyson giving her more than her brain could cope with thus sending it into overdrive before crashing completely. The wolf and Kenzi had kept mainly to themselves, aware that their presence may be more of a hindrance to the succubus. It wasn't really that she was concerned for Lauren's safety as such, she was big enough to admit that the doctor's ex-lover was just as capable if protecting her human partner. It was more the not knowing. Bo was not exactly the most patient person in the world and this sitting about waiting for who-knew how long for Lauren to come back to her was excruciating. She had barely slept the night before, electing to recline on the rickety old couch in the Dàl's basement rather than face her own lonely bed. Eventually after getting fed-up of listening to Bo's tossing and turning and midnight wanderings below Kenzi crept downstairs from Dyson's apartment to snuggle in next to her friend, trying her damnedest to be some kind of comfort. Now as Bo nursed the rapidly cooling coffee between her fingers she was beginning to give up hope, as overly dramatic as she knew that sounded. In a sudden spurt of frustration she slammed her fist against the bar top, rising abruptly from her stool she was about to begin her latest round of angry pacing when the lounge doors groaned open. Immediately halting, Bo gaped at the sight before her. Never could she remember being so relieved to see her partner...standing there like a tired, filthy angel. She slowly took in the red-rimmed, dark-stained eyes, the tattered clothing caked in dried blood- whose, she wondered and the weary way the doctor held herself. She quickly trotted over but stopped herself just short, unsure what her lover needed but Lauren sadly shook her head, the blonde suddenly aware of the confidence the last couple of weeks had cost the succubus. She reached out her arms, silently asking Bo for her support, if she was willing to give it. Bo did not need asking twice, leaping the last few steps to wrap a shaking Lauren up in a tight embrace and Bo couldn't help but wonder what personal hell the woman had been through over the previous few hours as she steadily rubbed her back.

Dyson looked on at the pair for a moment before clearing his throat and jerking his head at Kenzi suggesting the two of them make a discrete exit. Kenzi reluctantly edged her way out of the room, unable to resist goggling at the two women. She just couldn't quite believe how into each other they both still seemed after all this time. Dyson knew better though, cognisant of the unsettling undercurrents within the relationship. It still hurt though, to see the two of them together like that and he wondered how long he would have to wait before Bo would once again look at him in that way, refusing to acknowledge the nagging voice at the back of his mind telling him that perhaps she never would. He took Kenzi's elbow, guiding her out the door but stopped briefly;

"Bo, we still have work to do later..." But his words went unheeded as the two lovers lost themselves in their little haven.

They were vaguely aware of the sound of the door heaving shut as they eased apart for just a moment, Bo keeping her hands on Lauren's upper arms, unwilling to completely break contact. She glanced past the blonde's shoulder as if suddenly realising that something was missing. She had been expecting Athdara to have followed close behind Lauren but the griffin was conspicuous by her absence.

"Missing something?" Lauren teased.

"Not exactly." Bo replied flatly, "I thought Athdara would have brought you back?"

"She did," said Lauren, reaching her hands around to Bo's shoulder blades, pulling her succubus closer. "She dropped me off but she said she had something she needed to do. Bo, she thinks she knows how to find Dagny!" Bo's brow creased.

"How?"

"She didn't say but I think wherever she's gone she may find and answer." She waited a moment to allow the brunette to process this latest nugget of information. "Bo? We need to talk..." She said, dropping her hands away and taking a step back from the other woman. Bo instantly bristled, fearing the worst.

"Lauren, I don't think this is the best time for this. I mean, we just got you back and you're tired and-"

"Now Bo. " Lauren demanded, holding out her hand for the succubus to follow.

The doctor led the pair of them down the darkened passage to the cellar, covering the light switch that Bo had automatically reached for. Frustrated, Bo walked forward into the room.

"Lauren, what is all this about?" Lauren leaned back on a large wooden work bench, resting her elbows on the edge, allowing herself a few seconds to appreciate her girlfriend's silhouette in the sunlight that streamed in from one of the ceiling grates.

"Bo?" She asked. "Bo, look at me." But Bo kept her back to her. Slowly, Lauren reached forward and trapped the other woman's hips in her hands and pulled her back into her body, parting her own thighs for the succubus to rest between. "Bo?" She tried again. She could feel the brunette beginning to relax into her own warmth although likely against her own volition. She pressed a light kiss on the succubus's shoulder and lightly ran her fingers up and down the woman's corseted sides, tugging at the tightly bound laces. With a show of sudden strength that surprised Bo entirely, Lauren spun her lover around to face her and kissed her firmly. For long moments they tasted each other deeply and thoroughly, hands roaming freely. Before long though, Lauren was pressing her fingers to Bo's chest, urging them both apart and her succubus growled in frustration at being interrupted from its snack. She had already been on the 'slim-fast' diet for years as it was but as Lauren had started to age these moments had grown fewer and further between. Admittedly Bo had fallen off the bandwagon once or twice, occasionally grabbing the odd passer-by for a quick fix but it had never compared to the fine dining that was Doctor Lauren Lewis.

Now Lauren was tucking an errant strand of hair behind Bo's ear and smoothing her thumb over her temple soothingly. "I love you Bo Dennis," she began, echoing words uttered so many times over the years as she spoke directly into Bo's swirling blue irises, "and whatever has been going on in that head of yours, I chose you a very long time ago. That is never going to change. Okay?" Bo lifted her gaze to meet Lauren's and bit her lip shyly;

"I've been a jackass haven't I?"

"Mmm," Lauren pretended to weigh up a reply in her mind, "no more than usual" she grinned. Bo beamed back at her and leaned in to kiss the blonde again, softer this time but no less passionate, cradling her face in her hands at the jaw.

"I love you too Doctor Lewis." She wanted to take this slow, to treasure this incredible woman she had nearly lost. Her eyes swept over the blonde's rather dirty form, raising her eyebrows at the large hole in the woman's tank.

"Probably best you don't ask" she smirked in reply. The succubus gave a grunt and raised the shirt over Lauren's head, the blonde leaning back on her elbows as Bo began to mouth her way down her body. The brunette was forced to admit as she kissed and licked across the doctor's taut abdomen, not caring at the grime now smearing her own face or the taste of dust now pervading her senses, that not a single mark marred the her partner's flawless skin and grudgingly she sent up a silent word of thanks to the griffin, wherever she happened to be. Just as Bo slipped her hands underneath Lauren's hips and helped her to rise up enough so that she could slide ease the other woman's jeans down her legs, noting the grains of sand popping out from the creases prompting her to wonder just where exactly her lover had been the night before, Lauren tilted her face to the ceiling as her back arched wantonly. She could feel the tips of her hair dragging against the tacky surface of the table, the pain of the sticky stale beer pulling on her hair the sweetest counterpoint to the pleasure of Bo's lips on her mound. She closed her eyes and imagined that it was Bo's own fingers clutching at fistfuls of her hair, mumbling sounds of bliss, losing herself in the fantasy.

Lauren lifted herself up before gripping the back of Bo's head, desperately trying to guide her partner to where she wanted her but Bo quickly ducked out of the blonde's grasp. She looked up from her half-kneeling position between Lauren's feet at the her sweat-slick body and pulled her forward to the edge very of the table, nipping and teasing the other woman's thighs before pushing them as far apart as they would go, placing the blonde's feet against her own chest. She wanted to be able to look into Lauren's golden orbs as she made her come undone and she wanted Lauren to watch her do it. She wanted to once again possess what Lauren had freely given. She had been so childish at times, tarnishing this precious thing they shared with her own fears and insecurities. She needed to feel Lauren's trust in her.

She dipped her nose to Lauren's centre, the scent of the blonde's own fragrance mingling with the lingering trace of alcohol was an intoxicating mixture. They managed to maintain eye contact as Bo began to lick deliciously through the blonde's delicate folds. Occasionally Lauren would struggle to keep her eyes from rolling back in her head but Bo would stop each time until the blonde could somehow force herself to meet her again. Achingly slowly, Bo started to pierce her tongue into Lauren's scorching core, feeling the thick velvety walls already beginning to clench around her. She pulled out much to Lauren's disgust before clamping her lips fast around the blonde's pulsing clit, sucking soundly as she pressed two fingers inside after bringing the other woman's own hand hand down to hold her thigh in place.

She thrust and nipped and teased steadily harder and deeper until Lauren had no choice but to come crashing over that edge but Bo didn't stop, bringing her in wave after wave 'til Lauren had nothing left in the tank to give. Thoroughly sated, the doctor fell back onto the table, aware of the stale stickiness adhering to her skin but neither ready nor able to move. Bo crawled up her body and pressed down her full weight which Lauren gladly accepted, wrapping her tired legs around the succubus' waist. There they would remain, sharing a few final exhausted kisses, for a while anyway and Bo reflected on how sad a truth it was that to feel this close to someone you must first almost lose them.

XXX

Athdara chose to remain hidden for a moment when she walked back into the bar that evening. It was business as usual for a Friday night. A live band played on the small stage on one side of the lounge, pool balls clacked into pockets and a raucous laughter rose high above the collective throng but the griffin's eyes were one the couple at the far side of the bar. There, with their heads bent in quiet intimacy, two beautiful young women had found each other. In years past Athdara would have found joy in such a sight.

When she had first arrived back in Toronto the vision of Bo and Lauren had caused her a touch of strain but now that the woman's heart had been forcibly returned to her, the constriction within her chest was unbearable. So much so that she nearly turned right there then and then to walk out but a gentle press on her lower back gave her courage. Not a lot but enough. She had to remember that none of this was really about her or her feelings but the life of a young innocent girl. The pair of them stepped out from the shadows and into the view of the small makeshift family all in deep conversation at the far end of the saloon. Jaws hit the floor as after first catching sight of the griffin eyes floated to the woman next to her with long flowing ice-white linens and luxurious blonde tresses that curled gracefully down her back. Dyson was the first to recover his senses;

"Tamsin?"

 **A shorter update tonight. I honestly hadn't intended on adding this chapter into the story but I thought you guys deserved a good dose of Doccubus lovin' so...here you are, my gift to you for all your lovely support and hey, you know it wouldn't be me if I didn't leave you with just a wee hint of a cliffhanger ;-)**

 **Take care until next time all!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi folks,**

 **Well, time for another instalment albeit a bit delayed. Thank you all once again for your lovely reviews and follows etc, glad a few of you got a wee surprise last week, hopefully they'll keep on coming.**

 **Chapter Twelve**

"Ah well," she began, "I sneaked her out from under the very nose of Thor himself in a terrific act of skill and derring-do!" Athdara joked in a voice that sounded like something out of an old Errol Flynn film, her clenched fists raised in a dramatic pose. The Valkyrie chuckled at her new friend and gave her that ' _seriously_?' look that Bo remembered only too well. The two weary travellers had joined the rest of the gang in a cosy corner of the Dàl, off to the side of the stage where the band jigged and reeled, regaling them all with the tale of their latest adventure over a pint. 'Dara sighed and flopped onto her stool. "I just improvised a little..." she shrugged.

"Fudged" corrected Tamsin, tossing the griffin a glance of tolerant amusement from the corner of her eye.

"I simply told Thor that I required Tamsin's help...and may possibly have implied in my official-unofficial capacity as emissary of the Celestial Realm that a refusal to assist would be seen as tantamount to a declaration of war." She cringed at herself, knowing full well that in reality she had massively overstepped her bounds but bottom line, her gamble had paid off and here Tamsin was, sitting beside her to prove it.

For her part, Lauren had almost forgotten what this devil-may-care aspect of her former lover looked like and she had to admit that it really was very sexy. It had been one of the things that had initially attracted her to the griffin in the first place with her blatant disregard for rules and supposed authority figures, not unlike a certain succubus with whom the doctor was also intimately acquainted. Still, she was glad to see the other woman finally starting to behave like her old self.

"So, not that I'm not thrilled to see you Tamsin but why are you here?" Asked Bo who had failed utterly in lifting her disbelieving gaze away from the blonde since she had arrived but Tamsin immediately deferred to Athdara.

"Well, because Hades will have taken Dagny back to his realm, the Underworld, somewhere I never dared go. We need a guide that will be able to anticipate any threats or obstacles that he can throw our way and Valahalla is the closest in comparison." She paused, catching Lauren's eye meaningfully before adding; "and every lost mother deserves the chance to find her child."

The doctor nodded ruefully and dipped her head in a self-protective manoeuvre not practiced in years. Fortunately Bo was oblivious to the exchange but Tamsin clocked it. The thought suddenly struck her that here they were, a table of exes with the exception of Kenzi, yet conversation had so far been fairly amicable in this sordid little love pentagon. Admittedly though, she had taken note of Athdara's wince when she had caught sight of the way Bo's hand so casually caressed her thigh but it was when the succubus had leaned in to whisper in her ear with a soft, teasing kiss that the griffin had abruptly jumped up, joining Dyson behind the bar to where he had already safely retreated.

The wolf merely raised a mildly curious eyebrow as Athdara hopped a few feet in the air and maintained a hover as she reached a hand in to rummage about a dark, secret shelf that was not far off ceiling height. This was where Trick had kept the really good stuff. Without another word she disappeared off down the passageway to her old friend's inner sanctum, a bottle of fifty-year-old special reserve cigar malt clutched tightly in her mitt and breathing a heavy sigh of relief as the clamour of the bar was shut out along with the door. Wearily, the griffin padded over to one of two wingback armchairs and dragged it closer to the hearth, sinking into the well-worn cushions in bone-deep exhaustion. She placed her precious cargo delicately on a little side table where a clean, cut-crystal tumbler had at some point already been conveniently placed. Then with a single flick of wrist a cheerful blaze began to burn merrily on the grate. Athdara stretched out her long legs, placing a foot to rest on the thick brass fender that ran the length of the sandstone mantle. Pouring herself a generous dram she finally closed her eyes and allowed herself to rest in the comforting warmth, finding a sense of soothing in the crackling of splitting wood and the spiced, leathery scent of musty books. She knew it would only be a matter of time, however, before this peace was shattered and sure enough only minutes later the creak of timber could be heard floating down the stairwell.

"So you and the Doc, huh?" Tamsin asked as she perched on the opposite armchair. The Valkyrie seemed to be a straight-to-the-point, no-nonsense kind of a woman, something Athdara genuinely appreciated but right in this moment she just really wasn't in the mood. The griffin didn't even bother to answer, only giving a short nod of confirmation as she returned her eyes to the fire, swirling the viscous amber liquid around in the glass with deft fingers. Tamsin glanced at her hands, folded atop crossed knees. "And you guys had a kid? Does Bo know?" Athdara just continued to stare ahead, flames dancing seductively in her own stormy irises. The blonde got up to leave.

" _I_ didn't know until yesterday." Tamsin paused.

"What?" Athdara swallowed hard against the rapidly rising lump in her throat.

"The Elders stole our child away when Lauren was pregnant. It was still pretty early on but...long enough for a spark of soul to be borne. I had already left by then. I only found out yesterday by accident. Lauren wasn't ever going to tell me...I'd have gone to my grave tomorrow never knowing that we'd made a daughter together."

"But 'Dara," said Tamsin, moving across to kneel in front of the griffin, placing gentle hands on the other woman's knees, "she probably just didn't want to hurt you, knowing that there's nothing you could do would only tear you up." Athdara shook her head.

"No. There is something. As spiteful and vindictive as the Elders can be, they would never simply take an innocent life. They have her, somewhere..."

"You think you can track her down?" Athdara gave a devilish grin that contained within it a glint of steel;

"Try and stop me."

XXX

Eventually the Valkyrie left 'Dara to her solitude but it wasn't long before the griffin's next visitor appeared. Bo's booted steps echoed coldly in the quiet gloom. At first Athdara didn't deign to open her eyes from where her head was nestled in the wing of the chair but as the footfalls halted she cracked open one eyelid curiously and waved the now half-empty bottle in mid-air.

"Drink?" The succubus dipped her head and Athdara poured.

"Yeah, I think I do with one." She took a sip and immediately choked; "man, that's good stuff!" The other woman chuckled and topped up their glasses. "So I guess I owe you a 'thank you'...y'know, for, bringing Lauren back."

"It's fine, I got it already." At Bo's confused frown she elaborated; "I'm a two-way heavenly messenger Bo, don'cha know...I receive as well as send. I got your message earlier." Bo immediately flushed.

"So umm, did you know what was..." But Athdara interrupted her with a clearing of her throat and Bo took the hint. Yes, the griffin was perfectly aware that the 'thanks' had been sent up in a moment of passion and no, she was not prepared to discuss it.

"It's fine Bo, you really don't need to thank me because being truthful I didn't do it for you. Lauren's her own woman and I kept her safe for her own sake."

Suitably chagrined, Bo curled up in the other armchair, slipping her feet up under her amply proportioned behind while propping her chin on her palm.

"She still loves you, y'know." Athdara gave a grunt of disagreement.

"Bo," she replied, her voice hoarse with a mixture of emotion and the raw burn of the whisky, "she loves the memory of what we once were to each other. She's _in_ love with you and don't you ever forget that." She let that sink in for a moment before saying the words that she knew would cut her to the very core yet were no less the truth for it; "I'm glad she has you."

Bo's mouth hung open for a moment, feeling completely blindsided.

"Dyson filled me in while you two were gone, I guess I must have missed a chapter. I never really realised what exactly you'd be giving up tomorrow. Do you really have to do this? Athdara, surely I can-"

"I'm not giving up anything Bo," she sighed heavily, finally bringing her gaze around to face the succubus, "Bo, yes, your father is the Lord of the Underworld but you're mother was still very much Fae and fae are mortal. They may age far slower than humans but they do age and they can be killed," she laughed sardonically, "Trick wasn't always grey and balding y'know," she said, throwing Bo a teasing wink. "I, on the other hand, am an immortal just like Hades and the balance must be restored one way or another. Neither Light nor Dark can ever be more powerful than the other which is why I must fall on my sword tomorrow even if I emerge the victor."

"Lauren will be devastated if I just let you die tomorrow."

"Lauren has accepted the reality of the situation...and she'd be pissed as hell if I ever allowed you to face my judgement. We both know how terrifying an enraged doctor is" and she smiled conspiratorially before easing back into the chair. "I'm tired Bo. For the very fact that I am an immortal I have spent the last twenty years enduring one battle after another...torture, wrongful executions, war, battery...over and over again in the place of others who would not survive the same treatment...yet I would, time and time again. All because I dared to fall in love. Now I am being offered a reprieve. A chance to hang up my wings with honour and rest easy." She looked at Bo one final time in all sincerity. "We will get your sister back to you Bo. I promise you that."

XXX

It was a few hours later that Athdara heard the familiar stride of a certain blonde doctor, likely come in search of her wayward lover. She and Bo had talked for a little while longer but eventually the pair were happy by mutual agreement to let the conversation drift into a more contemplative silence until the succubus had fallen asleep in a pleasant haze of heat and whisky.

To be perfectly honest, Lauren hadn't been entirely sure what to expect when she got downstairs, her mind ticking off a whole list of possibilities including a full blown catfight with plate-smashing. Needless to mention her surprise at finding the two them sharing a convivial drink! Athdara staggered up out of her chair and wobbled over to the doctor who immediately raised her hands to try and steady the stricken woman. She spotted the now empty bottle still clutched in the griffin's hand and very gently removed it.

"Are you okay? Do you need me to...?" She trailed off. Athdara squeezed her shoulders and shook her head.

"No, it's alright, you should stay with Bo tonight" she husked.

As they held on to each other, Lauren could see the toll the last few days had taken on her former love; Athdara looked physically shattered. No words were spoken but in her drunken stupor, every front and bravado had been stripped away layer by layer, leaving only raw and vulnerable emotion in its wake. In that moment muscle memory kicked in and Lauren tilted her face up towards to the other woman's slowly parting her lips as time stood still around them, both thrilled and terrified at the prospect that Athdara might just close the gap between them. They edged nearer and nearer but at the very last the griffin managed to divert and instead pressed a kiss to the blonde's smooth forehead, lingering as long as she dared and whispered the words they had both feared;

"Goodbye Lauren."

The blonde watched the woman she had once been in love with pull back and sway her her way up the stairs, no doubt to find a quiet corner to lose herself in...or perhaps even to find some company for the night. Lauren hadn't had the heart to say anything but during their exchange in the cave the previous day she had found herself witness to a succession of sexual encounters, populated by a disproportionately high number of petite blondes. The thought made her cheeks blush hot. She couldn't bring herself to pass judgement though. For Athdara it had been a way of distracting herself from pain, both inside and out. After being battered bloody yet again, the griffin would find comfort in the arms of a stranger. Occasionally the odd curious woman would question her about the myriad scars and wounds covering her body but she would divert their attention by means of pleasure and they lost interest. It was sad, Lauren thought, Athdara allowing herself to be used like that. At least during Bo's history of promiscuity she had been getting something out of it- her succubus had needed feeding after all!

She turned and settled herself in the recently vacated armchair and took Athdara's advice, reaching out to entwine her fingers with Bo's where it hung loosely. For the rest of the night she would silently watch over her love as she slept, finally feeling that once again she had come home.

XXX

Normally Tamsin would not be one to intervene in another woman's private affairs but she had seen the way Athdara had stumbled back into the Dàl, looking as though she had only the most tenuous of grips on her surroundings. She had observed carefully as she tottered over to a gathering by the pool table where she was currently receiving the very personal attentions of a rather glamorous-looking and bountifully gifted nymph. There was a very visible exchange of tongues and a chorus of cheers and whoops every time 'Dara edged her fingers further up the nymph's thighs. Tamsin honestly didn't believe that putting on a show for the benefit of several spectators was really how the normally composed and dignified griffin wanted to spend her last night on Earth.

Folding her arms resolutely she caught Kenzi's eye and motioned over to the scene up the far end of the bar.

"Whadd'ya say TamTams? We going in?" They shared a fist bump and sauntered confidently over.

It took around ten minutes and a solid right hook from Kenzi to drag the grabby-handed nymph away from their friend but eventually Human and Valkyrie managed to haul the now almost comatose griffin up the stairs to Dyson's apartment and into the spare room where the two of them, still fully-clothed, sandwiched the poor woman between them.

XXX

 _That_ was exactly how Athdara found herself when she awoke the next morning. Thankfully celestials didn't get hangovers; alcohol worked its way through their system far quicker than the average fae or human. In fact, she was surprised at how drunk she had actually gotten the night before. She looked down at the two figures that had remained curled around her protectively all night and smiled but half grumbled too. It was wonderful to feel cared for...but by god, she really had been in the mood to get laid!

She allowed herself a final chuckle at her friends' antics before slipping quietly from the bed. Words had been said, feelings made clear and now she had a job to do.

 **Shorter update again, I know but I wanted to give a bit more buildup to what will be the final battle and also to have a proper "night before" chapter...maybe some resolutions have been reached?**

 **As always, thanks for reading and take care until next time!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hi** **guys, sorry it's taken me so long to get this final chapter out. I've had a lot going on here and writing really kinda fell onto the back-burner but I reckon you've probably had to wait more than long enough now for this last leg :-)**

 **Just a quick but undoubtedly insufficient special 'thank-you' to Nerdrific79, Dragonfly00 and Yin1994 as well as to everyone who has taken the time to review and add me to their favourites/follows, you've absolutely made this worth the writing. So with no further ado...**

 **Chapter Thirteen**

Bo awoke with a groan, feeling acutely the crick that had lodged its way firmly into her neck from a night spent sitting upright in one of Trick's ancient wingback chairs. Lauren, in the chair opposite, heard her girlfriend's protest and squeezed their still entwined fingers in response.

"Good morning my love" she murmured softly.

"Well good morning Doctor" the Succubus grinned back at her. "Ohh, I think I drank too much last night. God, that woman can knock 'em back!" She grumbled plaintively, her body twisting and making the musty leather creak in consternation as she pressed a palm tight to her forehead. Lauren could only chuckle;

"Well griffins can metabolise just about anything and far quicker than you or I could. Besides, if it makes you feel any better, she was definitely a little worse for wear when I saw her." Bo peered at her through squinted eyes.

"So basically she's like the dog that keeps eating the TV remotes?" Bo laughed then grimaced at the racket in her head, "You talked to her though?"

"Yeah," the blonde nodded, "you were asleep. We didn't really talk as such...she was pretty out of it...she told me 'goodbye'" she smiled sadly, replaying in her mind their rather anticlimactic meeting the night before _but then, just what else had she been hoping for exactly?_ "Anyway, it was you I came down here for."

Bo swallowed against the dryness pervading her throat, the movement making her gullet feel as though it were scraping along millions of tiny, jagged shards of glass.

"I'm sorry Lo. Really. I know that things haven't been exactly easy between the three of us but...I've actually gotten to like her a little bit. More than that, I respect her and...I can respect that what the two of you had was just as real as what you and I share. If there was any other way..." But Lauren shook her head.

"Bo, honey, I need you to listen to me. I can't blame you for having a reaction to the last few days and it is true that neither you nor Athdara are any more or less important to me than the other...but Bo...Athdara was my past. _You_ are my present and my future, however long that may be," she continued, casting her gaze to the floor for just an instant before coming back to meet the Succubus' intently. "I am always going to love that woman and what she meant to me, whether either of us likes it or not but remember that I am _in_ love with you. I hate to admit it but maybe part of the last week was about reminding me just how much." Lauren gripped her lover's fingers more firmly in emphasis. "Besides, believe it or not this is what Athdara wants. She doesn't want to escape from what awaits her today, this _is_ her escape from everything that's been done to her...and for what it's worth, she really likes you too y'know. She said you were a 'warrior'" she finished, looking pleased at what she believed to be a fitting compliment for the woman sat across from her.

"No regrets?" Bo asked simply.

"None." She replied.

xxxxxx

"Thought I might find you up here," came the Valkyrie's voice over her shoulder, "taking one last look?"

"Hmph, enjoying my last few breaths of Earthly air." The Griffin answered heartily.

"They do a great job at taking it all for granted don't they? All the mortals down there shuffling along on their little coils? A whole world full of wonderful things laid out before them..." 'Dara raised a slightly sardonic eyebrow;

"Telling me that you and I haven't done the exact same thing?" She interrupted before Tamsin's comments became any more derogatory then paused in reflection for a moment; "Y'know, right up until that point where I broke my oath, I saw this realm, saw humanity as something magical. Even after thousands of years I could still always find something to marvel at." Her stare ran off into the middle-distance as she recalled fond memories but then her voice turned gravelly with yet more unspent emotion. "Then I found myself humbled at the feet of my masters and finally I understood the torment human beings had gone through for millennia and I began to despise the world. It's only now that I can start to appreciate it all again. Just like you."

Reluctantly Tamsin found she had to cede the point;

"Must have been tough. All that time spent braced against the fatal blow yet unable to die." Athdara remained silent, her eyes shut steadfast against a torrent of images. "I know you feel shame, guilt, all those horrible feelings...but never once did you break your oath to Lauren and what's more important? Holding to a vow you were simply borne into with no other option? Or a choice to protect another being, entered into out of your own free will?" The Griffin's grip on the railing that lined the Dál's roof grew suddenly so strong that her fingers began to shift into the claws that lay beneath the warm human flesh but before she could answer a throat cleared behind them both. The women swivelled on their heels to find scruffy-faced Dyson in his traditional leather jacket and waistcoat waiting for them.

"It's time."

xxxxxx

Tamsin paused halfway down the cramped, dimly lit staircase to the basement and grabbed at Athdara's arm, her nails digging into the taller woman's generous bicep.

"'Dara, are you sure about this? We're asking so much..."

"You're not asking anything Tams," the Griffin replied, gently easing the blonde's fingers from their vice-like grip, "we're getting your girl back aren't we?"

Tamsin nodded, biting hard onto a suspiciously wobbly lip;

"Did I do this 'Dara? Did I let my baby girl down?" Athdara's eyebrows nearly leapt off her forehead incredulous.

"What? Are you asking me if you let your daughter down by dying? It's your nature as a Valkyrie, nothing you can help." She stopped, deliberately softening her features; "Tamsin, for whatever it's worth, she does ye credit lass. You made a fine daughter."

"But I let myself get fooled by that bastard! I should have known...somehow...I should have sensed it."

"You should have sensed _nothing_ ," the Griffin sighed, "Tamsin, Hades is a master at his trade. He spotted your weakness and caught you at your most vulnerable. The man is a weak fighter but he has a knack for picking his moments."

Tamsin dipped her head. "Bo..." She muttered.

"Tams, would you rather Dagny never existed?" At the Valkyrie's horrified expression Athdara raised her arm outwards, gathering the other woman to her side and squeezed. "But now you get a chance that no valkyrie has ever had before. A chance to say all those things a mother needs to say to her child. I reckon that makes you the victor any day of the week and hey, don't go feeling bad for me," she continued, tucking her finger under the blonde's chin, raising her face to reach her cobalt eyes, "now I get to go find my daughter and tell her all about her wonderful mother." She grinned ruefully, "we've all had our weaknesses Tamsin."

The silent wolf's ears twitched.

xxxxxx

The group had gathered in the den, standing about in a rough semi-circle. True to form, Bo spoke up first;

"So now what? Do we do some kind ritual?" Athdara shrugged;

"Nothing so complicated. It's actually pretty simple, I've just never done it. All we do is create a portal to the Underworld. We just need something to act as a gateway. The fireplace will do as long as everyone here is ready." At the series of nods that followed Athdara stepped over the brass fender to the mantle, closed her eyes and took several steadying breaths. When she finally spoke her voice seemed to echo around the high-ceilinged vault in a tone full of fire and iron that none of them had ever heard coming from the normally quiet woman. " _Fosgail do geata! Neach-geata, Iàrr fosgail do geata!"_

After a brief instant, the brickwork at the back of the hearth began to peel off to the sides with a great blast of freezing cold air to reveal a void of seemingly endless night. Stepping gingerly across the threshold Athdara liberated a few flaming torches from the sooty wall and began to pass them back along the line. As she turned, however, a movement caught her eye. The wizened old dwarf of a gatekeeper sat grinning on a stool just behind the door way, showing off his single remaining tooth and oozing a filthy lime green gunk from his pores that dripped merrily onto the dank floor below. The Griffin eyed him warily but supposed he was likely harmless enough; his sole occupation being to grant or deny entry to all those who sought this unearthly place. He would no doubt have been under strict instructions from his lord that this party of wanderers were to be allowed to pass unhindered.

On turning to Kenzi at the back of the queue Bo curled her fingers about the younger woman's shoulder;

"Kenz, maybe you should sit this one out, hmm?"

"Pfft, please!" She waved a bandaged hand in the Succubus' direction, "like I'm gonna just leave the rescue of my favourite niece to you guys!" The corner of Bo's lip quirked;

"Hey, I had to at least try, right?"

"Bo, if it's alright with you, I think Tamsin should take point, she can guide us through whatever we're likely to find down here. I'll cover her." Athdara's voice rang out.

"Head 'em up, move 'em out!" She smirked at Kenzi managing to keep to just the tiniest hint of sarcasm.

xxxxxx

The tunnel was what Lauren could only have described as just plain downright creepy and it seemed to go on forever. For all she knew perhaps it did. Perhaps they were doomed to be stuck down there for all eternity. Stop it Lauren! She mentally kicked herself. All the way along she could have sworn that there were creatures watching them. It felt as though the very bricks themselves were laughing at them. _Cackling_. Whispering yet somehow marvellously resistant to the illumination cast by their torchlight. It was the kind of thing that ordinarily the doctor would find fascinating but down here in the icy depths of the Underworld it was just downright infuriating! _Who the hell did these cowards in the shadows think_ _they_ _were!?_ Suddenly she felt an unfamiliar aggression surge within and tried desperately to clamp down on it. What were those things whispering? Through a treacle-like mist that seemed to have wrapped itself heavily around her mind, clouding her vision she became vaguely aware of an argument that had broken out at the head of the line. Tamsin and Athdara were actually yelling at each other, their hands slicing wildly through the air but their voices seemed strangely far away; ' _Well maybe if you hurried it up a little we might actually get there sometime this century!' 'Or maybe if I had a guide who actually had the first CLUE about where we're going...'_

Lauren recognised the unmistakable clip of Bo's heels stomping through the sludge past her to where the two immortals were bickering, no doubt attempting to break up the catfight. _Why the hell does she always have to get involved in things that have absolutely nothing to do with her?_ She thought to herself abstractly and then wondered just where on earth that came from but she didn't get the chance to wonder for long as instead of putting a halt to the fight up ahead she heard the voice of her lover stuck right in the middle of it all! Then things turned physical. Lauren snapped out of her haze just in time to catch up with Dyson and Kenzi who had both run up front to find the three women embattled in a haphazard brawl. Dyson did his best to intervene only to find himself batted away by a stray fist. Lauren and Kenzi both stared at each other in the gloom, completely nonplussed.

"Kenzi, can you feel that?" The younger woman nodded, her breathing harsh and heavy to her own ears. The already stifling air had, indeed, grown thick with... _something_.

"Yeah...why isn't it affecting us?"

The doctor merely gawked most unscientifically at the spectacle before them; "Oh, it's having an effect Kenz," she swallowed, "can't you feel that burning in the pit of your stomach?" The little Russian mumbled her disagreement, more concerned over the cloying sensation that seemed to be wrapping itself up around her lithe body.

"Dyson!" She called, just barely catching the Wolf's attention through the commotion; "D-Man, please tell me you can sense this _thing_ , whatever it is!" He stopped for a second to catch his breath and nodded, circling predatorily as he sniffed in the dense atmosphere but in that moment something inside Lauren chose to snap. Lunging forward, the doctor inveigled her arms between Bo, Tamsin and Athdara, all currently in the middle of a punch-up and did her human best to split them up. It was no good of course but for some inexplicable reason she had felt a strange compulsion to lash out at something, anything.

" _You're just the jealous ex-girlfriend! None of us would be stuck down here if it wasn't for you, bitch!"_

 _"Who are you calling a bitch? Slut!"_

 _"You know Lauren thinks you're even more of a dog than that fucking wolf over there! So woof woof mutt breath!"_

 _"Well you're wrong, none of us would be down here if SHE hadn't been tricked into having that little brat of hers!"_

Behind all the arguments Kenzi watched curiously as Dyson pressed his ear to the wall, his brow scrunching in consternation. The faint yet unmistakable echo of laughter. A whole crowd in fact and it sounded like it was coming from way beyond the bricks and mortar.

" _Oh what's the matter Doc? Just jealous that you'll never get Bo for as long as Dyson will?"_

 _"Shut up skull-face! Think I'd screw that thing now after you had him?"_

"Uh, guys!"

" _Yeah well, if you hadn't been so damned stupid and irresponsible in the first place..."_

 _"You wanna talk about MY mistakes? Well just look who's talking here- Little Miss Perfect that got herself knocked up by this one and then couldn't even carry it through! Tut tut to you Doc!"_

"GUYS!" Dyson and Kenzi's joint bark finally broke through the cacophony and for a second all three women just eyed each other warily as though whatever spell had come over them was suddenly lifted as quick as it had started. No one spoken for several moments and when Bo eventually did try to speak she was barely able to find her voice;

"Wait...Lauren, is that true? You two...?" She lifted a finger in the air and swayed it back and forth, "and neither of you were ever going to tell me this?"

"Bo, I only found out the other day..." But Lauren held her hand up, silencing what would no doubt be a very well-reasoned reply from the Griffin but an edge of fury still coursed white-hot through the doctor's veins.

"No Bo, I wasn't ever going to tell you. I wasn't ever going to tell anyone and honestly? It's none of your business. It's my past. MY story. I lost MY daughter. It's not like I didn't spend years of heartbreak trying to give you a child! You think I don't know what's going to happen when my human lifespan reaches its end? You think I haven't spent most of the last fifteen years dreaming, wishing I could somehow leave just a little piece of myself behind with you? But it just wasn't meant to be."

Bo stood dumbstruck and no one dared move. The ambiance in the tunnel had definitely shifted and the raging ire had dissipated but in its wake remained the uncertainty of uncomfortable truths. Steadily, Dyson's footsteps crunched nearer;

"I could hear laughter from another chamber, we must be getting close. He's probably been watching all this for his own entertainment."

"So much for me guiding you all through this." Tamsin whispered, "looks like I just created a problem."

"It wasn't you're fault Tams. There was definitely something wicked this way came!" Smiled Kenzi encouragingly. "The doc felt it too before she got all up in yo' grill! Wow, that was nasty blondie, I'm impressed!"

Lauren felt her own lip quirk in response; "I guess a girl's gotta do, right?"

Athdara, who had remained oddly silent during the exchange abruptly cleared her throat;

"We should move on." She said, stepping deeper into the shadows.

xxxxxx

It was only another few feet ahead and the tunnel unexpectedly opened up into a large chamber. It was still gloomy but a little light had managed to filter down from somewhere above casting a strange blue hue over the carved rock. It looked like some kind of ancient amphitheatre with a circular pit in the middle of the room surrounded by rows of raked stone benches and around the walls arched a series of sconces bordered off by great columns. It definitely had a flair of "Jacks'" Grecian heritage. The group halted by the entrance to the ring.

"Tams?" Asked Athdara in hushed tones. The Valkyrie gulped nervously;

"Thor has something like this just before the entrance to Valhalla. It's a testing ground where a warrior must prove his worth before gaining access to the inner kingdom. Each man must be tested...on his own merits." She finished, glancing round her friends. Bo, Athdara, herself and Dyson she had no qualms about but Lauren and Kenzi? Still, what choice did they have? It would be just as dangerous to leave them behind. Bo immediately took a step forward.

"I'm going first." She said with a force that brokered no argument and she strode over the threshold before any protests could be made. She was in no mood for further debate and dammit, she wanted to hit something! As soon as she entered the circle a bright, fluorescent blue bubble curved over the pit and a loud, ravenous cheering could be heard around the cavern yet the seats appeared to remain empty.

Athdara jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, you okay? You went a little quiet back there." But Athdara only nodded, turning back to pit where Bo and Bo alone could be seen with her face tilted upward shouting inaudibly at someone or something.

"Not here" she breathed.

xxxxxx

Inside the bubble Bo was distantly aware of her friends still gathered by the edge of the ring but all around her were jeering crowds baying for blood. She could hear trumpets flaring from somewhere up above and a loud voice boomed over the spectators;

"Bo Dennis, are you rreeeaaaadddy?"

"Ready for what? I don't understand!" She cried frantically, circling around, her head spinning from the deafening roar. _I can't put Lauren through this_ was her last coherent thought before she found herself flung into the middle of a forest in the dead of night. The sudden silence made her ears rattle as she fought to regain some awareness of her surroundings. It was near enough pitch black with just a sliver of moonlight slipping past the overhead canopy with the only sounds being the gentle chirps of cricket song and that of her own harsh breathing. A twig snapped in the nearby undergrowth and she spun on her heel, clutching at her trusty dagger, sat snugly in its own little holster on a well-defined thigh. Gradually the creature came nearer, some unidentifiable underfae with large, dripping fangs and wild black fur made its way under a single beam of silver light. The beast took its time. Somehow she could sense that this monster was allowing her fear to build before moving in for the kill. The tussle when it came was fairly short. The creature turned out to be pretty clumsy and it wasn't long before the Succubus found her opening, able to stab the beast through thick hide into its neck and Bo suspected that perhaps it had all been a touch too easy. As she rolled out from under where the underfae had pinned her to the ground she found herself drawn to look down into the carcass' mien which abruptly disintegrated until she was left staring at the rapidly paling face of her own father. She yanked her dagger out of the older man's gullet and watched the blood pump freely from the gaping wound then proceeded to stab wildly at the corpse's chest, splattering her own face, hands and torso in crimson streaks.

It wasn't until she broke for breath that she noticed that the prone body below had altered again. Her father's age-crinkled features had smoothed out into Bo's creamier complexion. The chest that now sported several stab wounds had rounded out to her own bountiful breasts. Immediately she collapsed to the side of the figure she saw every morning in the mirror and wept as reality kicked in. Now she knew she truly was the very monster she had always believed herself to be...just like her father.

xxxxxx

The group looked on in horror as a blood-spattered Bo eventually emerged out the other side of the bubble after what had surely been hours. But there again, wasn't it true that time had no meaning in the Otherworld? They had seen Bo fighting, unable to quite make out just what foe she had found herself up against but the worst had come at the last; the sheer savagery with which she had wielded that blade and then the emotional breakdown that followed. One by one Tamsin, Dyson and Athdara made it through their own ordeals, each facing their own private hell. Hesitantly Lauren had followed, finding herself thrown back to the day of a firefight in far off Afghanistan many years prior. This was the place of her nightmares. The incident that haunted her dreams when pinned down under heavy artillery, the desert sand stinging at her face she had been unable to save a young mother of two, convincing herself entirely that this was why she hadn't deserved any children of her own. Then she was flung forward again to that terrible realisation of miscarriage. Her ultimate failure. The illicit child she could not even carry to term. When the doctor finally emerged from the pit she only sobbed with neither Bo nor even Athdara able to offer her any comfort, both too shell-shocked by their own visions.

Kenzi, already terrified about what awaited her but determined to do this for her Dag and BoBo nervously crossed the boundary into the ring. Her challenge took her to a deep and abiding blackness. She tried taking a few tentative steps in front of her but quickly faltered, stumbling onto her knees. She couldn't see anything but she was aware of beings rushing about her head like wraiths. They ducked and soared, taunting her. This was what it felt like to be a helpless human. She cried for Bo, for Dyson, for Tamsin, 'Dara, Lauren, _anyone_ but no sound was forthcoming and no one came running. She was alone.

xxxxxx

Outside the pit, Dyson had begun to regain his sense of self and was watching Kenzi carefully. The usually plucky little human had curled herself up protectively into a ball in the centre of the ring, as small as she could possibly make herself. Occasionally she would give the odd little jolt as though she'd been prodded by something sharp.

"Guys, she's not getting out of there, I'm going in after her. If I get stuck in there you have to move on without me."

The others wanted to protest but lacking both the energy and any other genuine options the rest could only nod their tacit agreement.

"Take care of my girl Dys!" Said Bo and he was gone.

xxxxxx

Inside the arena all was black. He knew this had to be against the rules but to hell with it! He'd take whatever punishment they threw his way, he _had_ to get to Kenzi. If only he could just try to keep moving in a straight line! A high wind was whipping up and fog swirled making his legs tremble like he was walking through jelly.

"Kenzi!" He yelled through the rush.

Kenzi heard the call but thought it was just another trick to torment her. She huddled in tighter on herself as the storm began to rage violently above. Rain pelted down, soaking her hair and making her shiver while thunder cracked to add yet more noise to the din. On the plus side she could now barely hear the sound of whatever trickster was calling out her name.

It felt like she had been stranded there for days already when eventually a pair of strong arms wrapped around her from behind and the warm, spiced smell of Dyson's aftershave reached her nostrils.

"Kenz, I've been trying to find you. Why didn't you answer?"

The girl could only stare blankly into the darkness. She could feel the Wolf's warm breath tickle her cheek and somehow she thought he understood. Then she knew he did;

"You have a voice Kenzi. You've always had a voice."

They held each other close while the storm slowly abated.

xxxxxx

The other four women had moved on by silent agreement. They passed through a series of antechambers where a variety of underfae lurked but largely ignored them. As they neared what appeared to be another narrow passageway Athdara drew the great sword from the sheathe on her back, lifting a finger to her lips, rather pointlessly really as none of them had actually spoken a word since leaving the amphitheatre. Reaching the end of the corridor they could just make out the strained notes of banqueting music; flutes, tinkling bells and a variety of other strange instruments that Athdara couldn't place. Peeking round the edge of the archway she could see men lounging on luxurious, plush red sofas that lined shimmering silk-draped walls while veiled dancing girls twirled for their pleasure and fed them fruit off the branch. Bright copper dishes hung from pillars and filled the room with a warm glow.

"Come, come my friends!" He clapped theatrically in the centre of it all and the numerous guests cleared a path for the newcomers.

The four battle-weary women burst through the opening, weapons drawn and fury in each of their eyes. In front of them sat Dagny on a large throne-like chair, trussed up to look like some sort of Greco princess but every inch the gilded prisoner. Bo's anger rose sharply at the look of fear etched into the girl's face. She would make him pay...dearly. He stepped up onto the dais where the teenager's chair sat and eased an arm across the backrest, a sickening grin making his features twist unpleasantly as if it were a new and somewhat distasteful fad he was trying out.

"Tamsin! Come to visit our daughter? And Bo, it's taken you so long, your sister's missed your...instructive company!"

The Succubus growled but the second she attempted to make a move he raised his hand and she was stuck on the spot, fighting her dagger hand against the hold he had on her, on them all.

"Tut tut tut Ysabeau, just what would dear mummy and grandaddy think of your lack of manners?"

The man was nuts.

Then he turned to Athdara; "and you my friend, I believe you have some unfinished business to attend with my associate here." He raised a hand helpfully to the side as if he were an assistant on a gameshow pointing out the prizes a contestant could have won. At the side of the vast palatial room emerged that same giant Dragon; his head almost grazing the ceiling and grey smoke billowing from his nostrils. The audience gasped and applauded. With one flick of his wrist 'Jack' sent all four women crashing across the room, much to the hilarity of his guests. "Enough!" He called and he clapped his hands once more, returning to the dais where his own grand chair sat but instead of making himself comfortable for the upcoming spectacle he reached up to the white marble wall, pulled a gauntlet from a high-mounted armoury display and tossed it disdainfully at Athdara. The Griffin heaved herself up off the floor, left her precious borrowed sword tucked safely behind Lauren and trudged over to where the steel glove had unceremoniously landed, all the while keeping her eyes tuned to his. Then she picked it up and tossed Dagny a cheeky wink.

"Let the games begin!"

xxxxxx

Athdara had never liked showing her Griffin to those she felt had no little or no honour themselves and certainly not to the likes of these cackling buffoons but this wasn't about her pride. She reared up and felt the old familiar snap of bones forming and reforming, the smack and crunch of flesh rippling to accommodate her new larger mass and finally the creak of wings springing from her back only this time she had grown to at least double, if not triple the size of their previous encounter in the caves. Bo and Lauren both gaped as they watched their friend take up almost the entire height of the room to match the Dragon's. Both creatures proceeded to size the other up before roaring thunderously making the space around them tremble and thrilling the crowd. Bo couldn't help but wonder how Lauren's very human ear drums were coping with all that had gone on over the last few hours. Absurdly they each gave a bow before immediately tearing into one another.

At first both animals grappled hard, neither one really getting the better of the other but Athdara was already fatigued, the last hours and days having taken their toll and her hind legs began to buckle with the continued stress. Abruptly she found herself being put on her back but she had just about enough strength to flip the Dragon into the air before he could press home his advantage. The Griffin growled in protest as she pulled her body upright, ready for the next attack.

The Dragon beat its weight down onto all fours making the very Earth shake before pulling back its head and bellowing fire. Athdara managed to make herself just small enough to dodge the worst of the blast, getting away with just a touch of singing around the tail. She flew up to the ceiling and gripped hard onto the Dragon's head, driving her claws straight into one of the beast's eyes. It wouldn't kill it but it would buy her time.

The Dragon shook it's head forcefully from side to side, effectively flicking away the Griffin like a pesky bug on a windshield and Athdara went skidding off towards the crowd to great whoops of delight while a hot, choking smoke continued to fill the room. She was battered but she wasn't yet out. She leapt up into the air once more and shoved her claws deep into Dragon's black-scaled neck, shrinking herself even smaller she clambered determinedly upwards, little chunks of slate-like scale snapping off each time she lifted a paw from one to the next. She rounded to the front of the creature's throat where pepper green graduated into golden yellow and he knew he was in trouble, wildly thrashing his powerful neck muscles in an effort to break the Griffin loose. It was a rough ride but Athdara managed to cling on, smashing her paw through the heavy scales over and over until she had created enough of a cavity. The thought of what she was about to do made the nausea rise in her throat but still she drove her head in to the gap she had made and bit down hard. Her brain bounced about in her fur covered head as the Dragon flailed but somehow she maintained her death-grip on the beast's windpipe, feeling the rush of fresh, hot blood gushing over her face making her shiny coat sticky. Eventually the Dragon keeled over and she broke herself free, afraid of being crushed under his much larger weight and came to as graceful landing as she could a few feet away.

xxxxxx

The now once again human-shaped Griffin staggered back to her feet, doing her best to wipe away the syrupy coat of blood smearing her face and dripping in gooey trails down her armour. She came to a stop in front of Bo who rose to meet her and handed her the gauntlet from her own arm.

"This one's yours Bo" she said, her voice rough.

Bo took it graciously and stepped purposefully towards her 'father', enjoying the thrill of being the one in-charge of his fate, if only for a moment. She halted and slammed the intricate metalwork to the ground, shocked when the force of her own throw caused the marble floor to crack and a great boom to sound.

"Leave us!" Hades' voice reverberated around the room and his adulating followers made a hasty exit, all except his own personal servant to whom he turned and in hushed tones instructed; "take the girl, begin the ritual. Hurry man!" He then turned to his elder daughter and his footsteps resounded starkly in this fresh silence as he stooped to lift the Succubus' challenge. "You really think you can kill me Ysabeau? You couldn't do it properly last time. Look at me! I'm still here!" He howled maniacally, raising his arms heavenward.

"Oh, I'm not gonna kill you Pops...she is." She replied, casting a glance over her shoulder to Athdara who came to stand directly behind her in close support. "I'm just going to take great delight in making you suffer."

Jack's eyes widened in horror as he saw the Griffin pull forth the great sword. "Damocles?" he gulped. Athdara only nodded in the affirmative. Yes, he knew what that meant; Hades was a marked man but he would still win his younger daughter's soul. Could still reign his wrath and destruction and then no magic blade, however venerated, would be enough to stand in his way. "Very well then," he turned to Bo, "choose your weapon."

"I choose combat by sword" she smirked, pulling down a blade from the wall of her father's very own house.

The nervous-looking servant had already scuttled away down a back passageway with Dagny firmly in his rodent-like grasp when Jack began to circle round on his opponents but clearly neither had banked on one human and a Valkyrie who had not only clocked their subtle exchange but now with the dark lord distracted, were both free from his hold on them. They took their chance and hurried off after Dagny.

xxxxxx

Unfortunately, several metres down the line the tunnel forked off in three different directions and the rat boy of a servant had already gained too much of a head start on them.

"Where to?" Huffed Lauren.

"I don't know." Replied Tamsin, whirling about in panic. "We should split up, take a tunnel each."

"Uh uh, no way." Said Lauren, shaking her head before gripping on to the Valkyrie's shoulders to steady her. "Think Tamsin. Concentrate. Use your mother's intuition. Feel for Dagny" she said, desperately trying to sound reassuring. Tamsin closed her eyes and breathed deep, stretching out with each of her senses.

"Ohh, I wish Dyson were here," she said distractedly, "we could really use a sniffer dog!"

"Shh. Focus." Lauren persisted.

"Lauren, about what I said earlier, I didn't mean..."

"I know now _concentrate_ Tamsin." Lauren demanded, inserting a little more edge into her tone. The Valkyrie sighed and screwed her eyelids shut again;

 _Dagny? It's your mother...where are you honey? I can't find you, I need you to help me find you._

Abruptly her eyes shot open and she bolted for the right-hand tunnel, grabbing Lauren's hand en-route; "This way!" She cried.

xxxxxx

The trio continued to circle each other carefully, steel yet to touch steel.

"Bo, you don't have to go down this road, you can join your sister and I in casting darkness once more over this land. Surely you must see you can protect her much better from the inside." Jack entreated.

"He's scared Bo. He knows you can beat him." Athdara growled under her breath, lifting her blade into a defensive position but Bo's eyes were starting to swirl. "Don't give in Bo. I've got you."

In the end, it was the Succubus who launched the first blow with a scream of a primal, unadulterated fury. The Lord of the Underworld was strong but he was not the natural swordsman his daughter had long ago proved herself to be. Still, her battering of blade against blade, while it pushed him back through sheer force of will her wild slashing was unskilled, motivated through passion. Athdara slipped behind him, forcing Hades to turn on her instead.

"You know how this ends _jack_." Athdara taunted.

"Maybe but you're coming with me."

"True but dying's gonna hurt you a helluva lot more than it's gonna hurt me" she answered airily.

Determination to hang on long enough for his servant to perform the ritual, forcing the early release of Dagny's powers in order to claim her soul gave Jack the impetus to keep battling. Bo, on the other hand, knew they had to shut this fight down as quickly as possible before Lauren and Tamsin appeared with a newly-rescued Dagny. She caught 'Dara's eye and a mutual understanding passed between them. _Block, parry, lunge, thrust. Parry, parry, block, thrust._ On it went but Jack had not gotten to where he was by playing fair. Thrusting out a palm he sent a shockwave through the room sending both Bo and Athdara on a collision course with far wall.

Bo managed to recover herself quickly, shaking her head groggily but 'Dara was out cold. She was on her own. She got to her feet, beating the masonry dust from her bodice. "I just got this back from the cleaners" she snarked...now she was really pissed. "You play dirty, old man" she said as she took confident steps towards him. Now her eyes were swirling white as she seemed to be drawing energy from the very core of the Earth itself. Then it one almighty thrust she blasted her father back with force of a tornado. It had been so long since she had tasted this power and she could feel herself being sucked into it, revelling in her own omnipotence. Despite the myriad of broken bones he'd suffered when Bo had pummelled him into the opposite wall, Hades shrieked with laughter, believing he'd won his other daughter over but at last instant a voice brought her back from the brink. That Griffin was calling out to her with all the love of the Heavens bringing peace to her fractured spirit. The second jolt and the several chunks of roof plaster falling all around her had been enough to waken Athdara to consciousness. Gradually the tempest surrounding the beautiful Succubus began to cease before dissipating altogether. 'Dara wobbled over to her, placing a hand on the younger woman's shoulder.

"You did it Bo. You defeated him."

"He's not dead yet" she said with a contemptuous snarl.

"Hmph, nope, but he's certainly not going anywhere either. You remember what I told you last night?" Bo nodded after a slight pause. "Besides," Athdara continued, "no daughter should ever have to kill their own father, no matter what they've done." Without another word the ancient Griffin strolled over to what was left of the dark lord and knelt before him, removing the large breastplate from her chest and using both hands on the hilt to raise the Blade of Damocles high above her right shoulder. "You have been defeated...and now you must do your duty." Jack's lip quirked almost ruefully as Athdara replaced his sword, snapped in the crash, back into his hand but it was without any hesitation that he used what little strength his body still contained to thrust the rough point straight to Athdara's heart, milliseconds before Damocles' blade severed his own head.

Athdara felt the shortened blade pierce flesh but it hadn't gone deep enough. She pressed her body further down onto the sword, allowing it to tear through her torso even as she felt Bo's arms heaving her onto her back in a desperate attempt to drag her away. "Bo, what are you doing?" She sputtered, the sweat pouring from her brow as her body's innate nature fought to keep her alive.

"I'm not letting you die alongside him."

xxxxxx

It had taken all of her fae strength but Bo had managed to drag the armour-laden Griffin several feet over the bumpy, debris-covered floor away from her father where she then knelt and gently stroked Athdara's forehead.

"Bo, you have to do something for me" her voice cracked, her multi-faceted eyes looking up into Bo's deep chocolate ones pleadingly. The Succubus knew instantly what Athdara was asking for and she shook her head.

"No, no way, nu-uh. Lauren would never forgive me. You have to hang on so she can say 'goodbye' okay?"

"No Bo, it _must_ be done now while there's still time. Lauren and I have already said our goodbyes but I _have_ to this. At least I'll die with a smile on my face" she smirked and without another word somehow managed to grip Bo's collar and yanked her down to her face where she forcefully pressed her lips to hers.

It took Bo a shocked moment to figure out what was happening. Her normal instinct to suck the Griffin's chi had been replaced by Athdara actually _pushing_ something into her. Then when comprehension finally dawned she began to feed. Hard. She fed until every last drop of life had been drained from the Griffin's body. It was only when she sat back on her heels, breathless that she heard the sound of several feet come to screeching halt nearby.

Lauren stood by the doorway in a state of shock. She took trembling steps over to where Bo kept watch over her prone ex-lover before falling heavily to her knees and howling in grief. She collapsed over Athdara's body and sobbed, unable to quite take it in that she'd missed her go. She had wanted to be there to hold 'Dara's hand as she took that final step to freedom but she was too late.

Bo's own eyes brimmed with tears but she had a promise to keep so without any warning she raised Lauren's head and kissed her deeply. Lauren's eyes widened when Athdara's soothing voice filled her mind.

 _My darling Lauren,_

 _I have spent the last twenty years of my existence fighting for your happiness, trying to pay back some of what you gave me. I know you felt that I had saved you from fae cruelty but the truth is, it was you who saved me. Instead of just being able to observe it in others, you filled me with life and hope. From that moment on I swore I would do everything in my power to protect you from harm. Now I have no need to because you have Bo in your life. I trust her to bring you happiness in ways I never could. So, my love, I leave you with one last parting gift. Really the only thing I have left to give. Can you feel it? I bequeath you my life force. From now on you will have the life span of any normal fae. You will possess many Griffin powers but with none of the responsibilities, much like an Earth-bound Gryphon but it's down to you now to learn what those are. Within you are all the answers your inner scientist wished to know._

 _Treasure your life with Bo lass, have the family you deserve and my vow to you is that I will find our daughter and tell her all about her wonderful mother. All I ask of you is that you promise me that you will make me wait an eternity to see you again._

 _I'll be waiting..._

 _I love you my darling girl._

Lauren bolted upright, stunned, allowing the tears to flow freely down her dirt-smudged cheeks. She gazed down into that achingly familiar face and stroked the still warm skin. "I love you too my darling" and while she bent to place a kiss on Athdara's forehead a flash of light grabbed a Bo's attention.

When she looked up properly she saw a shimmer of silvery white light in the shape of a full Griffin, resplendent in polished armour with a floor-length midnight blue cloak. The Griffin gave a bow then took a step back, looking to where Tamsin was currently kneeling, talking intently to Dagny, grasping her hands tightly.

Reluctantly she made her way over to Bo and Lauren, handing over her precious girl to the two people she trusted more than any other in any realm. She stroked her daughter's hair one final time, having said all that she really needed to say in the little time available. She nodded to Bo, fighting back a suspicious moisture in her eyes that hardly befitted a handmaiden of Thor. "She'll make sure I get home okay."

Bo smiled while Lauren merely looked back and forth bemused.

The Valkyrie turned, allowing Athdara to gently clasp her fingers and in a flash of light they were gone.

 **Well folks, I hope that was worth the wait and action-packed enough for you. There will be a smaller epilogue to follow so fear not, loose ends shall be tied!**

 **Thank you again to all my wonderful supporters, it has been a true pleasure writing this story for you. I hope you'll stay with me through any future projects.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hi all! Well, I hope you've enjoyed my little saunter through the Lost Girl world as much as I have. Again, a huge thanks to those who have stuck with me throughout and given me great support like Nerdrific79, Dragonfly00 and Jtmollico. Also big thanks to readers who have recently joined us; FrenChi, I had a listen to the song you mentioned and can honestly say I'm so flattered by the comparison, thank you! I appreciate your suggestion of doing some prequels but don't honestly think there'd be much call for it. However, if I did think there was more story here then I could add in some more flashbacks :-)**

 **Akshijain, glad you've enjoyed it as well as all who have favourited/followed. I think I'm glad to have reached a resolve with this story and overall I'm pretty happy with where I'm leaving it. There is a bit of wiggle room for another story to follow this one but I would really only do it if there was a demand for it. Unfortunately my inbox has seen a bit of a negative backlash from some corners but this was my story, I'm sorry if it wasn't the one that some of you wanted to read. Just please remember guys, it takes a little bit of bravery to put your ideas out there for the world to see and every writer on here puts their heart and soul into their work so if you have a point to make then keep it constructive.**

 **Epilogue**

Resting her hip lightly against the spotless kitchen worktop Lauren sighed contentedly, her eyes slipping shut as the first blissful sip of coffee that morning warmed a silky trail down her throat. Bo and their two wonderful children, Charlotte & Ethan had only just disappeared out the door for the school run in a flustered whirlwind of bags and coats. Finally the house was quiet, albeit with the living room looking as though it had been stirred! Still, it was a rare morning indeed when the doctor had the luxury of taking her time, usually caught in the mad rush, briefcase tucked haphazardly under-arm offering hurried kisses to her three Dennis' before diving off to the clinic. It was only during these occasional moments of peaceful contemplation that Lauren would pause to reflect with satisfaction on how much her life had changed over the past few years.

Since her transformation from human to fae Lauren had received a new lease of life. Every day she would catch a glimpse of herself in the mirror and marvel at how fresh and young she looked; her skin glowed radiant and her eyes sparkled with that special twinkle that had previously been absent far too long. And she was happy. In one small step she had turned around and found everything she had ever wanted. A loving partner who was now her fae-legally recognised wife with all the benefits that implied and an eternity to spend with the two precious beings that she and Bo had created.

For Bo's part, things certainly felt much improved. Herself and Lauren had always been compatible sexually but for the longest time she had insisted on treating the doctor as the fragile Human she was; afraid of draining too much Chi out of her, worried that with her added Fae strength she could break her somehow or worse, make her feel completely and utterly inadequate as a lover. But now their sharing of energies had developed between them a kind of synergy that, in retrospect, could never have existed before. Now with Lauren's added powers, not only was she single-handedly capable of sustaining her insatiable Succubus but she was actually also physically just as, if not stronger than Bo herself.

This new level of intimacy had not been confined to their bedroom activities either. Lauren had developed at least a limited set of Athdara's psychic abilities too. It hadn't taken her long to discover that if she concentrated hard enough she was able to pick up echoes of Bo's thoughts and feelings. Over the years she had deliberately sought to extend those capabilities to the point where if ever Bo or one of their offspring were in trouble then a single thought would bring her running. But the best part was the mental bond she was able to share with her lover. She could feel what Bo felt, knew instantly if something was wrong when she returned home in the evenings and felt the joy of shared pleasure reflected straight back at her. Bo found it infuriating. And endearing. And maddening. And wonderful.

Lauren smirked to herself at her one admittedly slightly childish perk from all of this; she had finally won the ultimate victory over Dyson. Then again, that wasn't quite the same triumph that it might once have perhaps been. After their shared experience in the _Arena_ , Dyson and Kenzi had wasted no time in cultivating their own little patch of happiness. The doctor smiled sadly. It was unfortunate that they too were now experiencing the same dilemma that herself and Bo had so long ago. That of the love between Human and Fae. Having said that, things had turned out alright for them in the end! Mind you, she doubted very much that Kenzi had some immortal ex-lover rattling around her closet with a convenient solution like she had had.

As for Dagny, amazingly she had gained her doctorate and now trained in the clinic under Lauren. It really was the ideal place for the Valkyrie to both ply her trade and still be able to help those in need.

All in all, together they had created the perfect life. Almost.

Unfortunately, even now the latest Big-Bad-with-a-Big-Ego was never very far away and this latest one could potentially have caused some real problems. A young fae, the discontented son of an Elder from the long ago deposed Fae Council had risen to some prominence. Initially they had dismissed him as nothing more than hot air but with his charming rhetoric this Christophe Santos de Villiers had gained some powerful followers, persuading other descendants that, despite the years of relative peace enjoyed since the corrupt council had been disbanded, they too should be disgruntled at being disinherited from their rightful authority and titles. Many previously honourable men and women had been swayed to his cause and they were steadily gaining traction among the disenfranchised aristocracy with their rallying cry of a return to the old ways. Christophe, himself, was gunning for the very Succubus he held accountable, her and her half-breed lover...and their mongrel offspring.

Despite the fact that at age twelve the twins were far too young to have come into their powers, both Bo and Lauren had, after much discussion, agreed that an expediting of nature was their only real way of protecting their children. The trouble was, while Bo could help the kids with any Succubus abilities they had inherited and as much as Lauren had learned to temper the limited powers she had gained through that awful day in the Underworld, she really had no idea how to guide two emerging young Gryphons through the early stages of acquiring their gifts. There again, as the only Griffin children to have ever been born, certainly in this world, their situation was unique enough as it was. She immediately clamped down on the potential torrent of emotions that still threatened around the edges whenever her thoughts neared the subject of the daughter she had been denied. This was the time to be logical. They needed help from someone who knew what it meant to be a true Griffin and the Earth-bound Gryphons were proving to be just as secretive as their Celestial cousins.

The previous evening as they had wrapped themselves around each other in the soft confines of their king-sized bed, the sweat of lovemaking still clinging stickily to their rapidly cooling skin, Bo and Lauren had talked deep into the night. Surprisingly it had actually been Bo's idea while at first Lauren had been reluctant. But then Bo had made the argument that, really, their options were few, that it was long-since time for Lauren to make her own peace with the past and eventually, as ever when it came to Bo and their children, the blonde was won over.

So Lauren sat the now empty mug in the sink, slowly ascended the stairs to the bedroom and set about making herself comfortable. While it was true that she was well-practised in the art of meditation she had never before attempted to actually _go_ anywhere but apparently Griffins had the ability to astral travel. So, having done as much research as she could in the short time available, she could now only pray that it was yet one more ability she had managed to 'inherit'.

Initially, she perched lightly on the edge of the bed, trying to find a position that her body could hold for a prolonged period without putting up too much of a protest before finally allowing the mattress to support her full bodyweight. As she sank deeper into the forgiving cushioning she took several steadying breaths, sliding her eyelids closed and letting her hands rest limply on her thighs. Gradually any remaining tension began to leave her body until a gentle stillness gave her mind the freedom to wander. She didn't know quite what she was doing exactly, tentatively hoping that something inside of her would just instinctively know what to do if she got the intention right.

It wasn't long before a delightfully floaty sensation took hold of her and she felt her consciousness rise Heavenward. Then suddenly everything seemed to move very rapidly. A bright haze surrounded her and she grew dizzy. Everything was moving so fast, she was losing control. Up she sped, higher and higher until a great bursting sensation ricocheted through her...' _body_ ' and she screwed her eyes shut against the sickeningly leaden drop in the pit of her stomach.

xxxxxx

When she was finally certain that the world had stopped spinning she dared just crack an eye open a tiny bit. When no whizzing bright sparks proceeded to blind her she opened them both fully, staring slack-jawed at the scene in which she had emerged. Surrounding her was a vast glen of snow-capped mountains whose peaks reached high up into fluffy white clouds carved into segments by a golden afternoon sun. In the far distance, she could just make out the blackish smoke of chimneys and presumed there must have been a settlement of some kind nearby. Lowering her gaze again, before her feet lapped a shoreline of crystal-clear water that spanned the entire width of the valley. It didn't look terribly deep at the edge and the promise of the icy liquid was more than a little inviting after that rather nauseating head rush. Checking quickly that no one was watching, she took a moment to slip off her boots and stepped into the cool water, feeling pebbles slide silkily between her toes. She knew if she were anywhere else then the shingle could be littered with anything sharp and nasty but she had a distinct though completely inexplicable impression that nothing in this place would harm her. _Most unscientific_ she chided herself.

Abruptly, she caught movement out the corner of her eye and she jumped back into her boots. A rag-tag bundle of shawls and skirts carrying a wicker basket shuffled its way towards her. As it got nearer, Lauren could just make out the well-lived-in features of an elderly woman peeking out from between several layers of faded, multi-coloured cloth. The woman looked a little startled at the sight of this newcomer but curiosity stopped her anyway.

"Excuse me Ma'am but I'm looking for a friend of mine, perhaps you know her. A Griffin by the name of Athdara? Have you heard of her?" The woman eyed her warily but nodded;

"Aye, I ken her fine. Lives up at the big house at the end o' the Loch...her an' her dochter." Lauren immediately paled, her eyes growing obscenely wide. The old woman narrowed her gaze; "you're _her_ aren't ye." It wasn't really a question. She nodded again briskly, seeming to come to a decision of sorts and pointed to the beginnings of a narrow dirt track that trailed along the side of the nearest hill. "Aye well...there's no boat tae get ye across the Loch but if ye follow the road it'll get ye there just the same. Takes a fair bit longer mind and just watch, it peters out near the end so ye'll hae tae mind yer footin'."

Lauren peered at the path the woman had shown her, watching the way it snaked around the curves of the mountain and at the end she could just make out the crisp, white, lime-washed outlines of a substantial house surrounded by woodland. She went to say 'thank you' but when she turned around the old woman was gone.

xxxxxx

Sure enough, the bundle of rags was right and Lauren had to grip the odd jaggy boulders that protruded out from the rock face as the path grew treacherous underfoot, large chunks of dry, gravelly mud giving way beneath her steps. In the end, she decided to hop down the fairly short drop, feeling much safer traversing the final few feet along the Lochs edge, even if it did get her a bit cold and wet. The house was just a little further up on the edge of a bluff. In truth, it was the kind of rustic setting she had often fantasised about living herself one day but she knew Bo loved the hustle and bustle of the city too much. Perhaps someday when they had 'retired', when the kids were old enough to take over the "family business" of saving the world every five minutes she reasoned.

Crunching gravel underfoot, she was dismayed that no smoke billowed freely from any of the half-dozen chimneys, nor did the grounds boast any other sign of life but then just as she finished the thought, her ear caught the faint buzz of a motor out on the water. A small craft chugged its way to the opposite edge of the shoreline. It was little more than an old wooden rowing boat with a rather decrepit and rusty motor strapped precariously onto the back of it looking for all the world like only the most token effort of modernity in this hard and ancient landscape. But it was the athletic figure who hopped lithely out of the boat and now strode confidently up towards the house that had frozen Lauren in-place.

The young woman looked to be about seventeen or eighteen and possessed Athdara's long, almost raven-black hair and her olive skin but the woman's face was just like looking into a mirror. Lauren wanted to cry out but she couldn't seem to find her voice yet perhaps the stranger somehow sensed another's presence because something _did_ make her stop and turn around. For a moment both women simply stared at each other before the younger one broke out into a wide grin that was so Athdara it made Lauren's heart stop for just an instant. Then the girl made her a run for the doctor's pleading, outstretched arms. Her _mother_.

xxxxxx

Saoirse escorted her beaming mother up the bluff and around the back of the house to where an achingly familiar form was bent over a tree stump, deftly swinging an axe through mid-air and driving it straight into a log of wood.

"You broke your promise!" Came the irritable voice, not bothering to turn around to face her guest. Lauren faltered for a moment, pulling back on her ' _daughter's_ ' arm. She couldn't see the huge smile that had crossed her ex-lover's face.

"Mum, be nice!" Saoirse said, having long ago learned to recognise the unmistakable sound of when her mother was truly displeased and when she was simply teasing. Lauren felt the relief flood her bones when Athdara finally sighed and turned around to face them, the broad grin fully exposed to match Saoirse's own. She felt the tiny butterflies in her stomach and she replied in-kind with a smile of her own. She had to admit that Athdara looked good. Really good. Her hair had been tied back in a messy bun while tight, doeskin trousers clung to her muscled thighs. A pair of black, low-heeled leather boots covered up to her calves while a lightly fitted shirt flowed freely over her torso. Clearly life here was agreeing with her. In fact, Lauren couldn't remember ever seeing the Griffin look so at peace. It made her feel guilty over what she was about to ask of her but this was for her family. She mentally kicked herself when she saw the flicker of a frown cross Athdara's features. She had forgotten what it was like to be on the receiving end of those empathic talents. Athdara eyed her with much the same look that the old woman had earlier and Lauren wondered if it was something peculiar to this place but the look was quickly replaced with the Griffin's much more recognisable expression of warmth as she reached out an arm, gathering the doctor close and lead her towards the house, leaving the axe stuck firmly into the tree stump.

"Come and have some dinner. Lucky for you it was my turn to cook tonight!" She said, winking at Lauren and chuckling at the expression of indignation on her daughter's face that was pure Lewis.

"Dinner? But it's only..." Lauren trailed off as abruptly, she took in the already fading daylight. Just how long _had_ she been hiking along that road?

"C'mon Mom!" Saoirse chimed in, holding close to her mother's arm.

xxxxxx

The house had been warm and welcoming. After Saoirse gave Lauren a quick tour while Athdara put the finishing touches on the dinner the three of them had sat down to a congenial meal of Venison, fresh vegetables straight from the field and goose-basted roast potatoes. Conversation had thus far been fairly light-hearted while Saoirse delighted in finally seeing her two parents together, teasing each other with stories of their various antics and escapades. It turned out that the old woman that had sent Lauren up to the house was someone called "Auld Maggie, the Speywife" and apparently she knew _everything_ about _everyone_. Then Athdara suggested that Saoirse take Lauren on a walk in the grounds before it got too dark.

The night was crisp and clear as arm-in-arm they had strolled through a narrow forest track with all the scents of the Earth rising up to their nostrils while through canopy of trees filtered the light of thousands of stars. Revelling in each other's company, the discussion had been more than a little illuminating. Lauren had learned that it had been Athdara's old comrade, Cathal, that been secretly telling Saoirse all about her parents while she grew up in the sheltered 'care' of the Elders. After everything the wily old warrior had told her it had somehow come as no great surprise when her mother had raised hell in the council chambers...not an easy thing to do while up in the Heavenly Realms! She doubted that 'Dara would have been so successful had she not finally released herself from the Elder's charge. She had become a loose canon under no authority but her own...and furious. Athdara had a ferocious reputation as it was and though they would never admit it, the Elders had been terrified over what would rain down on them over a mere slip of a girl. However, the council had required to save face somehow so they had released Saoirse on one 'condition'. Really, they had Athdara over a barrel and they knew it. The Elders had intended on training Saoirse to become every bit the warrior her mother was, taking Athdara's place beside them. If Saoirse was to be let free into her mother's care then Athdara would be required to take over the girl's training herself. Very soon, the young woman would be made to face a series of gruelling tests. If she passed, she would commence an eternity of service to the Celestials. If she backed out then she would be banished and if she failed...she would die. Several moments passed before Saoirse suddenly realised that she had left her 'Mom' somewhere behind her. When she finally turned around she found she instantly regretted explaining her situation at the stricken look on Lauren's face. She snapped back through the twigs and gripped Lauren's shoulders;

"Mom, are you okay? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..." But Lauren shook her head and held up a hand.

"No, honey," she began, moving her fingers to caress Saoirse's smooth cheek, "no honey, I'm glad you did. I just...I can't understand why your mother is letting you go through this." The young woman shrugged;

"She didn't really have much of a choice if she wanted to take me."

"Well now you have a choice." It took Saoirse a second but when realisation broke, she felt tears sting her eyes and she swallowed hard against the rising lump in her throat.

"I can't Mom. I love you...so much. But I can't leave her. I can't go back with you. I know this is gonna sound crazy after everything the Elders put my Mum through but...I wanna be just like her. I feel like this is what I was born to do. I wanna be strong like my mother...and help people with compassion like my Mom." She took Lauren's arm and lead them on further up the path. "I admit, it's tough living in my mother's shadow. Everyone expects so much of me. They tell me all about how my Mum was the best warrior ever...before...well..." She trailed off, uncertain how to end that sentence which usually finished along the lines of; _before she met that..._ _ **human**_. As it was, Lauren smirked knowingly at her daughter;

"It's okay sweetie and I know that your mother had _quite_ the reputation before I came along. But you know, I regret nothing." She finished, stroking away a strand of hair that had fallen into Saoirse's eye. The girl grinned a sideways smirk before continuing;

"I know it kills her, that she has to be so tough on me sometimes. I know how much she hates being my mentor when all she wants is to be my Mum. I feel it...she can't hide things from me like she used to. And neither can you by-the-way," she said, glancing at her Mom with a painfully ernest expression, "you need her help again but you don't know how to ask her."

Lauren sighed but on raising her eyes she abruptly realised that the pair of them had reached a clearing in the woods and there, they stood on a high peak in the Glen. In the glow of the brightest full moon she had ever seen she could make out the ripples of miles and miles of water, caps of snow that sparkled icy-silver and the glowing lights of the nearby village she thought she had detected earlier. She hadn't even realised they had been walking uphill until now. She gazed at her daughter, awestruck;

"I can see why you wouldn't want to leave this place." Saoirse returned with that warm, enigmatic smile that Lauren had seen on Athdara's face during some of their more tender moments.

"I wanted to bring you up here Mom. Y'know, there hasn't been a day gone by when Mum hasn't told me something about you. I think she wanted to make you as much a part of my life as possible...but I have missed having a mother. There's been times when all I've wanted was for you to hold me at night. Mum just can't do that."

"Oh darling" was all Lauren could manage before throwing her arms around the suddenly very fragile-looking young woman. Together they cried for all the lost years, for all the missed hugs and scrapes and all the other things a daughter should get to go through with her mother. They held onto each other with a death grip, giggling at themselves as they finally parted. "Toothpaste" Lauren sputtered.

"What?" Saoirse asked softly. Lauren sobered just enough to reply properly;

"Toothpaste. When your brother and sister squeeze like that in a cuddle we call it a toothpaste hug. Like when you're squeezing a tube of toothpaste to get that last stubborn little drop out."

"Toothpaste," Saoirse smiled, "I like it."

"It's getting dark, sweetie." The younger woman nodded to where fluffy puffs issued from the big chimney at the gable end of Athdara's house.

"You're right, we should head for home."

xxxxxx

The back door creaked loudly just as Athdara was filling up three mugs with steaming hot chocolate, adding a handful of marshmallows before bringing them through to the main living room. Saoirse sniffed the air, inhaling the heavenly aroma of chocolate and knew that her mother had added that special dash of cinnamon that they both loved.

While she made herself comfortable on the sofa next to her daughter, Lauren noted appreciatively that Athdara had lit a fire in the expansive grate and she smiled at the first touch of warm sweetness on her lips. Athdara had taken the Chesterfield wingback by the fireside with her feet propped up on an embroidered footstool while Saoirse snuggled up next to her on the couch. Candles had been lit in the various sconces lining the walls, casting a soft, cosy glow around the otherwise darkened room. This first-hand insight into how her daughter and her good friend spent their evenings gave her an absurdly pleasant tingle and she knew this was a memory she would treasure forever. Perhaps because it was really a sneaky window into another life that she could have been living herself had things been different. It felt secret and special. On sheer impulse, she leaned over and placed a tender kiss on her daughter's head, breathing in the scent of spiced shampoo and her own naturally woody smell. It wasn't unlike Athdara's own particular scent; that of a life spent out in the harsh, unforgiving elements. In truth, it wasn't necessarily the existence she craved for her own offspring but she would have to accept the reality of it. At least her daughter would have the strength of her own powers to get her through. Just in that moment, her eyes met Athdara's and a shared knowing passed between them. Had Athdara heard her thoughts? The small quirk of the Griffin's lip told her she had.

Suddenly Saoirse downed the rest of her chocolate, announced that she was tired and bounded up the stairs to bed. Lauren stared at the vacant space beside her in utter bemusement;

"Well I guess she had a big day." Athdara merely chuckled and shook her head.

"That girl has all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. God-knows where she gets that from," she began, taking on a shocked expression at the subsequent quirk of Lauren's eyebrow. "She's never in bed before Midnight, that one." Lauren glanced up at the clock ticking away on the mantlepiece. It was only quarter past nine. _Only? Had she really been here that long?_ The answering grin from the other chair gave her the distinct feeling she had missed a trick somewhere. Still, Saoirse's abrupt departure had given her the opening she needed but as usual Athdara beat her to the chase; "Lauren, it's been wonderful having you here but I know this isn't a social call. What is it you want to ask of me?" Lauren took a deep breath and shook her head, her gaze fell to the floor, allowing her hair to shield her eyes;

"You always could read me like a book," she half-grimaced, "you're right, I do need your help" she said, lifting her eyes to meet the aged Celestial's. It was true actually, the closer she looked, the more she took in Athdara's features, every crease, every slight wrinkle she could see...the other woman did look fractionally older, just round the eyes. She couldn't help but wonder if it was the transference or if all those years of hell on Earth had simply taken that kind of a toll on her. She had to admit, she rather liked this "wiser" look with the slight silvering at the woman's temples. "Long story short, our children, mine and Bo's are under threat. They're only twelve but for their own protection, Bo and I intend to speed up the process and instil their powers early."

A hush descended over the two women, the tick-tock of the clock and the snapping of wood in the fire suddenly echoing off of the stone walls. Athdara racked her brains but still came up blank.

"So...what do you need me for? I mean, they're too young to behave like a full Succubus/Incubus but Bo is more than capable of teaching them a controlled chi-suck." Lauren scrunched up her brow, uncertain if Athdara was just being deliberately obtuse.

"'Dara, the children are half Griffin!" Athdara scoffed;

"Lauren, they can't be."

"They are 'Dara! Years ago I developed a test to figure out an infant fae's genome. They are Griffins just like you, just like me..." She trailed off.

"Lauren, that's impossible," she began, rising to her feet and pacing firmly across to one of the living room's mullioned windows, hands thrust deep into her pockets. "Your DNA should never have altered during the transference, you were only ever meant to take on my life force, a few heightened abilities. You weren't supposed to lose your humanity." Lauren took a second to absorb this latest information.

"Then how do you explain Saoirse then? She's a full Griffin." Athdara exhaled at what she was about to say;

"Lauren, Saoirse was never meant to be," she began with the utmost gentleness, moving with soft footfalls over to the couch where she wrapped an arm around the blonde, easing her into her body. "What happened between you and I broke every rule. Remember that night of the Ash's Samhain Ball?" The doctor felt the heat rise in her cheeks and nodded silently into Athdara's chest. "You remember how you said you'd never felt anything like that before? Like the love was bubbling up from inside of you when we...when I...umm..." She cleared her throat and flicked her eyes south.

"Yes..." She whispered, casting her mind back over what had been a wonderful evening.

"I didn't realise what I'd done. I'd essentially implanted my own life force inside of you to create a life. It had just felt so instinctive, I never even gave it a second thought at the time." Lauren puffed hot breath into 'Dara's white shirt, leaving a damp patch to match the droplets left by a few emerging tears.

"Without giving away too many details, Bo and I conceived Charlotte and Ethan in a very similar way."

"Makes sense." The Griffin nodded. Another silence came over them while Athdara continued to hold her ex-lover in quiet support.

"It was shortly afterwards that I started feeling a little strange. Oddly enough she never gave me morning sickness or any other of the nasty pregnancy symptoms. She really was a little angel," she snorted sadly, "but I knew something was off. I only found out by conducting some routine blood tests on myself and worked it out from there. I wanted to tell you so much but that was right around the time when you started to become distant. You were constantly distracted and I was so afraid I was losing you. It was after we'd been at the park that day, it finally felt like I'd got you back again. I was going to tell you that night. When you kissed me that evening and said you'd join me in bed I knew it was right...but then you never came."

"I'm so sorry Lauren."

"Shh," she said, pressing a finger to Athdara's lips, "it doesn't matter anymore. You kept your promises and you've given both of us a wonderful life. I just wish I could help Saoirse." The Griffin squeezed her shoulder;

"You have hon, just by being here today. She's wanted to meet you for so long."

"Saoirse told me about Cathal, how he told her the truth." Athdara grimaced;

"Didn't bloody tell me though did he? I could've killed him when I find out...still, I do owe him," she smiled ruefully, "guess I'm still a bit bitter."

"Mm hmm. I think so. But I can't honestly blame you for that. She also told me one or two other things...are you really going to make her go through this horrific test?" The question was asked in all honesty with not a hint of malice, Athdara knew that but still she rasped her reply gruffly;

"It's what she wants Lauren. Believe me, I hate myself for how I have to be with her sometimes. She needs her mother" she said, glancing down at Lauren.

"It hurts 'Dara, knowing that she's going through all this."

"I know lass," she said, placing a chaste kiss to the blonde's head much as Lauren had done with their daughter earlier.

"She's determined to stay here with you."

"She's become an incredible woman. She's stronger than I ever was...but she has her mother's brains too to balance it" she said, tilting Lauren's face up towards her with a gentle finger under her chin. "If it makes you feel any better, it'll all be over by the time you get home." She watched with fascination as a variety of expressions flitted across the doctor's brain, that giant scientific brain mulling this latest information over;

"Time has no meaning here...I remember now, " she said, the light of knowledge in her eyes and 'Dara nodded;

"It's true...none of this is really happening as you perceive it. Past, present, future...it's all the same here. You can go forward and see her as a grown woman, you can go back and see her as a young child. By the time you return home, either she'll have passed or she'll...either way it'll be over."

"Do you ever go back?" Lauren asked in a small voice.

"Sometimes," she whispered. "Lauren, I can't go back with you. I can't return to Earth."

"But my children are partly your responsibility! If you hadn't..." she growled hotly, making a euphemistic gesture between them, "then Bo and I would never have conceived ergo, you _have_ to help me!"

"Lauren, I know it's not what you want to hear but there is _nothing_ I can do! Right now my place is here, making sure that _our daughter_ has the best chance of survival!" She stalked off the couch crossly, causing a wall candle to jump as she thumped a hand angrily into the stone. She kept her back to Lauren, her other hand placed firmly on her hip while the doctor also made a move but rather than storming out the door as Athdara had expected, she instead went across to the creaky wooden staircase.

"Well, I guess if time has no meaning here then I can spend a bit more of it with our girl." Athdara chuckled slightly, turning her face to the side.

"Of course. You have all the time in the world."

xxxxxx

Lauren saw no need really to creep upstairs, fully aware that not only was it highly unlikely that Saoirse was actually asleep but also that she had undoubtedly heard the commotion between her parents below. Still, she eased herself onto her daughter's bed with the utmost care, slipping her arms around the younger woman's torso from above the blankets and pulled her close.

"I'm sorry, you had to hear all that" she said softly into the darkness. She heard a small sniffle and abruptly realised that Saoirse had been crying, alone in the night. "Honey, shhh." She began to stroke her daughter's temple with her fingertips soothingly.

"Mom? D'you think...if things had been different...that you guys would have stayed together and like, we could have been a real family?" The crack of the girl's voice caused Lauren's own heart to break, the very last of her walls coming crumbling down about her. She had no idea how to answer honestly without hurting her little girl further. She swallowed, buying herself a precious few moments;

"Sweetheart, what your mother and I shared was very real, it was powerful and yes, at least for a while I think we would have made go of things together. With you. But I can't honestly say I know for sure what would have happened had Bo still come into my life when she did. I hate to say this but I think...I think your mother and I met at a very specific time for a reason. I'm not sure it would have ever lasted because of who we were though I loved her. Very much and a part of me always will. She gave me you. Our precious little girl who has grown into a fine woman. And we are a family. You can have both of us...and when you visit, you'll have even more family in our home. You have two wild younger siblings that would love to meet you and I know that Bo would really take you to heart. You two are actually quite alike y'know...because you're so like your mother. I often wondered if that was the main reason it took the two of them so long to find their common ground." Saoirse chuckled;

"It's funny, Mum says I'm more like you. In fact I overheard her saying to someone one day that I was the little bit if you she got to keep."

They continued to talk through the night until both women had fallen fast asleep.

xxxxxx

When Lauren awoke she was somehow surprised to find herself curled up in her own bed. Blinking sleepily, it was once again daylight yet here she was in her pyjamas. _How the hell did I get back here?_

Rubbing her face with a failing attempt to stifle a yawn she padded her way downstairs where the commotion of the weekend morning routine of jabbering children and the clatter of the pancake griddle filled her senses.

"Good morning sleepyhead!" Called an awfully chipper Bo and Lauren couldn't help but wonder if somehow she had accidently once more shifted realities during the night but then the very sensual kiss her wife quickly deposited on her lips as soon as she was within range rapidly disabused her of that notion. "Wherever you went to yesterday must've really tired you out, I couldn't wake you when I got home."

"Yesterday?" Lauren mumbled confusedly.

"Yeah, you were out for the count so I just left you to sleep."

Meanwhile Charlotte and Ethan had continued their nonsensical chatter about god-only-knew-what but a single word made Lauren's ear prick up.

"Ethan, what was that you were saying about 'wings' honey?" She came around the counter, stroking his blonde curly head.

"The thing Mommy, the thing last night had wings, didn't it Lottie?" Charlotte nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah Mom, it growled and flew away!" At that second Bo had come over wielding the pan full of golden fluffy pancakes and began teasing them out onto the kids plates.

"What are they yammering on about now?"

"It came into our room Mommy!" Exclaimed Ethan, immediately making a mess the second he had reached for the squirty bottle of syrup. Meanwhile Lauren had turned white as the proverbial sheet while Bo's hackles had shifted into 'action' gear. The twins had been moved into the spare room, sharing the large double bed to try and prevent exactly this sort of thing from happening.

"Ethan, why didn't you yell for us? Did this thing hurt you?"

"Nooo, it was so cool!" Both kids shouted. "Then it went up onto the roof and fleeeeeewww away!" Bo cast a worried glance at Lauren;

"Think I'm gonna go call Dyson!"

"No, wait Bo!" Inexplicably, Lauren bolted for the front door. She had no idea what she was looking for but as soon as she flung open the door she spotted it. There, on the porch, lay a single white downy feather. Delicately she bent down and raised it to her face, rubbing her cheek against the impossible satin softness and breathed out a tiny ' _Thank you'._

 **And thank you! Thank you! Thank you!**


End file.
